For I Am A Side Character - 79: Into the C-rank Dungeon

Having worn all the equipment needed, we made our way to the appointed cave where we suspected was a newly developed dungeon.

And despite the fact that it was only me and Jessica, Eric had the confidence that we could take care of this issue by ourselves. It was the sort of blind faith that simply made me uncomfortable.

“Although I don’t know it what it feels like to go hunting in a newly developed cave, I’m sure its not a problem for the two of you.” he said as he looked to his sister and me.

“Don’t worry, we’ll come back with some results. If this cave does have resource value, we won’t conquer it and if its more of a danger than necessary, then we’ll conquer it.” said Jessica.

“It’ll probably take us two or more days to handle the dungeon…so after you lead us at the entrance of the cave, make sure to put the barrier around it so that the monsters won’t be able to escape and wreck havoc into the islanders.” I said.

What I meant by a barrier was this human-crafted artifact that was capable of acting as a form of blockage to stop any monster from moving past its entrance. Its one way to secure the area while research and preparations were being made to handle the dungeon.

But since we didn’t have the Hunters association’s help in this case, we would only need to  confirm it ourselves. We don’t need any preparation other than our weapons.

With that said, we made our way to the cave.

It was somewhat far around in the middle of the island. As we got closer, I was starting to sense a dense form of magic circulating in the area. This feeling was something we would naturally notice every time we would go and hunt in the dungeon. Which means that we were right about our assumptions. The cave was most likely the dungeon.

“Do you feel it Jess?” I asked.

“Yeah…the dungeon is really close by.” she said.

And after a few more minutes of traversing simply by walking, we made it to the cave.

And from here, it was oozing a powerful presence similar to that of a C-rank dungeon.

“Ehk…it reeks of fish. It wasn’t like this the first time I was lead here…” said Eric as he was disgusted by the smell.

“Its already clear that this is one of the entrances to the dungeon. Lets go Jess.” I said as pulled my sword and shield up front.

“Okay, start putting in the barrier big bro.” said Jessica as she ordered her brother.

And from there, Eric nodded and pulled out the barrier artifact from his bag. And as he placed the barrier, it quickly activated. Putting us in its range and trapping us inside.

“Good, get back to the resort. Once we’re finish with this raid, we’ll send a flare into the air. If you see it, come and get us.” I said.

As Eric understood, he turned his back and walked back to a safe place, while me and Jessica made our way to the cave.

“How are you feeling?” I asked to Jess as she had this nervous expression put on.

“Hmm, I’m sorta nervous. This is actually our first time going into a dungeon with just the two of us. And because it’s a newly developed dungeon, we don’t know what’s inside of it.” she said.

“Don’t worry, as long as its not a B-ranked dungeon, we can easily handle it.” I said as I tried to put a reassuring smile for her.

“Okay…if you’re this confident, then lets do it.”

As we made our way to the dark cave, we had to turn on another artifact that is able to follow us as it produces light like a lamp. With how much artifacts were put into my mystical space bag, we had no worries when it came to small issues like the dark and food.

As we walked down the cave, we soon came upon a few resources that caught our attention.

“Huh, look at this… don’t you recognize this?” I asked as I knelled in front of a plant.

“Its…a crystal flower. This things are pretty common for dungeons…but I don’t think it serves enough to act as a guarantee that this cave has value. We should keep moving moving forward.”

Crystal Flowers were common plants found in the dungeon that serves as a sign that the dungeon was habitable. If it didn’t grow in this dungeon, it could imply that the cave was producing elements that could harm the human body. Like toxins and other poisons probable.

As we continued…we soon came upon the first group of monsters standing around in the dungeon. And like the monster that was discovered in the beachy shores, those monsters were nothing but scaley fishkens.

“I’m going in.” she said.

Without any form of hesitation, Jessica quickly brought out her daggers and made a move forward.

Like a dashing star, she took out two fishkens before they could realize what happened. And although it may look impressive, Fishkens are known to have one of the hardest scales known in the hunter’s encyclopedia. Even for a C-rank hunter, cutting through it with their weapons is similar to that of a simple sword passing a block of metal bars. It should be considered that you must run away the moment you can tell that your sword won’t even leave a mark to these fishkins…

But because of the well-renowned United Camelot Academy, the students who came upon such extensive efforts to become the very best, simply knew how to handle something as threatening as that of a fishken. Constant battles create experience…and for Jessica who has battled with something more terrifying than that of a C-ranked Fishken, a simple fishken was not a challenge for her.

Only when you can reinforce your weapon with a skill in the cost of your mana can you actually pierce through their scale, but because Jessica had a low mana count, she couldn’t afford using such a skill on her weapons. Not with how this was just the start of the raid.

One way to kill a fishken is to get pass its metal-like scale…and just like any other fish in the sea, a scale can easily be ripped apart by the use of a knife, just not in a way that would be normally used when holding something like a sword…

Scales after all, have gaps…and once you can squeeze through that gap with the use of your knife, you can easily push through its skin. Its like gutting a fish…and with Jessica’s background of being a well-experienced cook. To her, a fish is a fish, no matter what kind.

So, in the instant that she came to see the fishken’s stance, she knew exactly where to aim her twin blades at.

After killing two fishken, the others surrounding her instantly reacted. And although they didn’t have any weapons on hand, they had sharp claws and sharp teeth to compensate their power.

And just like a fish, their ability to leap and swim was at a speed similar to that of bullet. Although they were faster when they are placed in the depths of the water, their bi-pedal legs were just as strong when it comes to land fights.

So from their leaps, they were like pushing bullets.

But Jessica didn’t hesitated. One after the other, she kept her focus at its peak…

Each fishken were C-ranks, similar to her own rank. But even with this fact known, she wasn’t afraid.

‘…Although they are fast, their nothing compared to when I spar with Soril. So this is manageable.’ she thought to herself as one by one, those Fishken came close at an inch’s length, after they pass by her, they would drop dead on the floor the next second with a found cut on their throats.

This form of flow in her peak was only reached because of how she had always sparred with Soril. For every spar she had encountered with such a monster, her ability to pursue and adapt simply grew up to a point where she learned a skill out of nowhere. A skill that was crafted from her intense effort.

A passive and rare skill called the [Adaptive Heart]

It was a type of skill where if a hunter were to constantly fight an enemy through the minutes that passes by, she will have a sudden growth of understanding toward her enemies all up to a point where she reaches a flowing state of mind. It lets her adapt not only against its attack but also every form of identity in the way they think and move. At its peak of adaptation, Jessica can easily read an opponent’s attack like they were simply a book.

But although she has this amazing skill at hand, it does not matter if her opponent is simply to overpowering. Although she could adapt through their movements…she cannot adapt to the physical strength and essence they bring in a battle.

That is mostly why she could not fully surpass Soril no matter how much they spar. Only through underhand tricks can she actually bt Soril. But for now, against a C-ranked fishken, it was not a problem for her. She can easily read through them like a book because of her knowledge gained not just from the spars but from the monster’s biology she learned at the academy.

As Jessica fought, Soril simply stood on the sidelines, assisting her when the time would come to it.

At most, he knew that Jessica’s limit was for a fishken to go at her two at a time…but enemies don’t bother with a pattern. They go when an opportunity arises. So at some point, three fishkens would jump at her at the same time, to handle this, he would fire a mana spear at one fishken while the other two would proceed with their leaping sharp bites and shredding claws.

He did this not just do this because he wanted to protect her, but because he also knew that this was a learning moment for her.

He knew that with Jessica being the leader of the [Young Merchant’s Guild.] a leader needs to be strong, one that would not be pushed around when the moment calls for it, and as a person who respects her with all his worth…he needed to support her character. He needed to help her raise her level in her own strength. With it, she should gain the experience from the kill of a monster and the ‘experience’ of this fight alone.

And if it gets to dangerous, at this point, he should step in and stop her when its clear that she can’t handle a situation. For now…he’s only here to help her grow.

To him, this is what it means to support someone.

As the battle ended, Jessica was left breathing hard from all the effort she put in just this level of the dungeon.

She nearly killed over 20 fishken on her own while Soril killed 13 fishken.

“Geez…I can’t believe that there were this many of them, this early in the dungeon.” she said as she was gasping for air.

“You okay?” asked Soril as he looked worried for Jessica.

“I’m fine.” she said.

“Well, lets not rush it. We have a lot of time to handle this dungeon, so if you want to rest, lets rest.” he said.

“Okay…still, from this hunt alone, I feel like I grew a level.” she said as she could feel her strength grow from this hunt alone.

“Good. This is a great opportunity for us. Fishkens usually are large in numbers, its like a school of fish if we want to compare their quantity…so going ahead and taking them out in just a single day is reckless. Lets keep it steady and safe.” said Soril.

“Okay.”

“While you rest, I’ll go and check if these monsters dropped an item of something.” he said as he approached one of the corpses.

Walking up to their dead bodies…he could see just how much damage Jessica was able to inflict in these monsters.

‘…Wow, not one cut was able to pierce through the scales…but instead, it went under it…each cut is as vital as the next. I can’t believe that she’s already this precise with her handling.’ said Soril as he was impressed.

‘At this rate…before we could even reach the final boss of this dungeon, she could grow enough to actually face him on her own.’

With that said, he started salvaging the corpses.

After a while, they continued on with the hunt.

From the way they were going, it seemed like the cave was going down deep into the ocean, yet not a single drop of water was found, not until they made it to a cliff with an open space.

“Hmm?”

“Whoa.”

What appeared before them from where they were standing was a large space of open water just below them where above the ceiling was a lustrous sight of blue moss glowing and making it visible for them to see. And on those waters he could see the sight of the fishken warriors floating and swimming around.

“…Damn, I can’t see the depths of this water, I don’t think we can easily cross it.” said Soril.

“Well, if that’s the case. We’ll just have to deal with every fishken underwater.” said Jessica.

“…the waters are their territory, so its going to be a disadvantage if we just jump right in. What if we can lure them in to our side?” asked Soril as he had somewhat a nasty idea on mind.

“What are you thinking?” she asked as she looked somewhat worried.

“I’ll be right back.” said Soril as he went back to the path…and not long after, he came back with three corpses of those Fishken on his back.

“What are you trying to do?” she asked.

“The most disrespectful thing a man can do in front of his kin.”

With his said words, he picked up one of those dead fishken and raised its body near the cliff of water.

From here, he pierced through the Fishken’s head and sliced through as if he was butchering a pig’s head. The moment he was able to cut through its head, the body fell to the waters while its head remained on Soril’s hand…bleeding down to the waters.

It was a savage attempt to try and get their attention. He seen this once happen to a show with how a warrior was able to taunt an entire village of barbarians by cutting off a fellow barbarians head in front of them like a show.

With it, it was very gruesome…but thankfully it worked. it worked well enough that even with a few dumb fishkens, they were sympathetic and understanding enough of just how insulting that action was.

Because not long after this one attempt.

Dozens…if not about a hundred fishkens went above on the surface of the water and stared above at the sight of the dead fishken’s corpse.

“Get ready Jess.” he said as he pulled his sword out. This time, he can’t just stand by while Jess handles the enemy…

“Looks like there’s over a hundred of them.” she said as she was starting to get nervous.

“Don’t worry. This is a chance for us.”

With that said, Soril brought out his sword and shield and stared down on them with a smile on his face.

With that said, the moment one of the fishkens jump over the water to Soril’s direction, Soril quickly used one of his skills.

[Heavy Slash!]

And just like that…he’s already killed five fishken.

Two against a hundred may seem a bit much, but with Soril by Jessica’s side, she felt confident that they could get pass through this together.