Chapter 88
“Hahahaaa” Leo let out a self-deprecating laugh, he was too conserved in his judgement, too wary of his uncle, not fully understanding the force that he brought to bear. He clutched his father’s sword that hung at his waist, a peak 3 star weapon or even higher. Then he felt his chest plate and the mithril vest hidden underneath one a 3 star armour made of duram metal and the other at least 4 star.
Although he couldn’t go toe to toe with one of the elite guards or anyone at C-rank for that matter, since he wouldn’t be able to land a hit and they could easily find a weak spot that wasn’t protected. However, against D-ranks he’d be able jump right in to the thick of it and come out unharmed, the same even more so for Luna. With the amount of defensive enchantments on her robes even an upper C-rank would require multiple blows to harm her. The two of them were anything but weak.
All his planning didn’t really account for his or Luna’s strength. He surmised that at best they wouldn’t drag everyone else down.
Shiiiiinnng! Leo drew his father’s blade well his blade now, confidence returning to his eyes.
“Frost-senpai’s right we’re more than enough to handle rabble of that strength.” He smiled and looked over towards his fiancé.
Luna smiled back, nodding before bring her staff forward in preparation to cast some offensive magic.
Ryuu and Bastion chuckled quietly as they looked at the two of them with pride, it seemed like they could take it easy and relax until the big fight.
Bruno awkwardly rubbed the back of his neck as he tried to smile; he didn’t mean to dampen anyone’s spirits with what he said but he was glad it turned out well in the end. He also appreciated Frost’s unbiased declaration of his and Taka’s strength. No longer wary of his former foe he smiled in Frost’s direction basically translating as ‘you can count on me’ in which Frost smirked back.
.....
“Let’s move out team.” Leo loudly announced as he arranged the formation. Ryuu and Bastion would be kept at the back with Luna slightly ahead along with Taka. Covering the middle was Leo and the front was of course taken up by Frost and Bruno. Bruno being a tank type and close combat fighter would of course take up the vanguard and Frost since he was the strongest allowed to fight. Plus it’d take less time to enter the battle if he was in front.
Like that the group made their way through the 1st floor basement.
Their opposition as stated wasn’t much on this floor, occasionally there was a single person who was around D-rank or close to that, but the rest were pretty much chaff like they were outside the manor.
“Aghhhhhhh!” The final goon of the floor screamed out as Frost stabbed his glaive through his chest splashing blood on his clothes for the umpteenth time tonight. Frost relished in the healthy dose of DP that entered his body he was close to 1700DP stored including the 800 he got from the goblin culling. Already tonight was proving to be a worthwhile endeavour, actively searching for your prey instead of waiting for it to come to you.
The last one he killed was probably the strongest goon he’d faced so far tonight, he gave 150DP alone. Of course, it would have been far more profitable if he killed them within the Dungeon but what were chances of encountering so many victims there, all while not increasing the danger level of the Dungeon? No, sometimes there’s a fine line wherein this method was more efficient.
Squealch!
The goon’s body made a gross sound as Frost withdrew his glaive, the victim already in the next world.
“Huuuuuu” He released a deep breath, his arm was getting tired, and his breathing was becoming a little flustered. They had been fighting non-stop for past 40 minutes or so in order to reach the end of the first basement. It wasn’t exactly massive but there were a lot of goons, so it simply took a lot of time and a lot of swinging. He was surprised that with the amount of flesh and leather that his blade cleaved open it hadn’t blunted in the slightest. It was still razor sharp and bouncing the light of the blade edge (when Frost wiped it clean of the blood of course)
He hadn’t really used much mana throughout the fight just occasionally firing of an ice bolt or two to kill those goons that tried to run, so his mana level were still pretty high, no need for a potion. Cleaning and repairing his robes cost very little and he gave up ten minutes into the blood bath, so he now sported a rather dark red colour, much to his displeasure.
“[Clean]” Now that the first floor was effectively cleared, he cleaned his robes returning mostly to his noble appearance. His mask received another gash revealing even more of his handsome face.
‘Actually, why am I still wearing this thing?’ Frost stopped in place when he realised that since Maya wasn’t here, he didn’t need to wear this annoying mask. It provided little to no protection except from possibly the sun and even hampered his vision. He reached up to remove the mask and toss it away, aiming to claim that it was destroyed in battle when he returns but his hand stopped in place.
‘What if she finds out?’ A chill went down his spine, he turned around rapidly looking for the cause but nothing was there. He didn’t exactly fear Maya, but she had proven on more than one occasion to enjoy torturing him.
He shook his head.
‘I’ll just leave it for now.’ He cowardly decided to listen to his guardian’s orders.
“I think that’s everyone Leo.” He changed the topic, turning to face the young lord, and reporting the situation.
Leo was looking a tad pale in the face and his muscles were quivering and Luna looked as though she was going to hurl every time she breathed. They were adventurer’s yes but also young children, it was the first time they’d witnessed and taken part in such carnage, especially when the victims were people and not monsters.
Bruno and Taka were fine with it, just a little exhausted. Taka’s fingers were bleeding slightly but nothing major. Ryuu and Bastion simply looked at the dead corpses with complete indifference, they didn’t try to console Leo and Luna either -with much difficulty on Ryuu’s part in regards to Luna- no they needed to face this gruesome sight themselves. The world was not necessary a nice place especially for those involved in nobility. Those who were coddled wouldn’t survive long.
“Ble...Seems so Frost-senpai.” Leo tried to smile towards him but almost threw up the moment he spoke. The smell of dead goons was not in any way pleasant and unlike Frost they didn’t have self-repairing and cleaning robes-well Luna did thanks to Ryuu.
Leo was a little annoyed, he should have taken a page out of the poor adventurers handbook and brought some herb infused cloths, at least that way they could wear them as scent maskers but no, all he brought were potions, fat lot of use in this situation. They couldn’t burn the bodies either at least not at the moment, the smoke would make the area inhospitable for battle and may pre-empt Adam to use an unknown escape route. No matter strong his bodyguards were they couldn’t effectively fight a fire- well maybe the mage could but that’s not the point. They simply had to get used to the smell and the act of robbing people of their lives, if not they’ll be the ones dead.
“Sorry Frost-senpai can you give me a moment.”
“?” Frost tilted his head to the side in confusion but quickly got his answer.
“Bleueeeeeeugrgh!” Leo walked over to the side and threw up, following him was Luna who did the same. Best they let it out now and not be hampered down by it when it really counts.
However now the smell of blood and dead flesh was mixed in with puke not much better but manageable for the others, Leo and Luna had nothing left to vacate so they were safe.
“Everyone should drink a potion if they need it, in fact even if you’re only slightly injured or exhausted you should take it, don’t try to save these potions I can always get you more, but I can’t revive you.” Leo spoke as party leader, a role that felt quite natural. Even Frost was happy with letting him take the lead, it was his vendetta after all.
“Understood young master Leo”
“Will do young lord.” Bruno and Taka replied with respect and didn’t hold back, they each downed a health potion to recover any lingering damage. They’d be at pretty much full strength after this one.
Health potions have a limit on what they can heal and taking multiple lower level potions at once does not equate to drinking a high level potion. The body can’t absorb that much healing properties so only the first potion will really take effect healing wise, the rest will simply be a bitter tasting drink to quench one’s thirst. However, if you wait a while let’s say 30 minutes with heavy activity the body would then be able to absorb more of the healing qualities.
With the second health potion down Bruno’s bones were back to normal only the muscles in his shield arm were still a little painful but other than that he was right as rain. Taka was much the same only a tiny amount of lingering damage, not enough to cause any issue in battle, they could now use their skills freely.
Frost followed Leo’s advice and withdrew a health potion from his storage ring as well as a mana potion. He didn’t really need it but better safe than sorry, plus he’d be playing with house money here.
This will be the first time he’d be drinking and experiencing the effect of a potion, he had to admit he was rather curious . He started with the red health potion first.
‘Bleurgh, that is absolutely disgusting ugh! and the taste sticks to the tongue bleurgh.’ He found this potion to be much more disturbing than the carnage that lay at his feet, but he clenched his fists and persevered downing it trying to think of happy thoughts while doing so.
When he’d finally finished it and felt the need to wrench his tongue from his mouth the healing liquid got to work entering his bloodstream attaching itself to injured areas. His arm that was starting to feel weak quickly regained its strength and a few areas were his skin was cut -nothing more than a little scratch- healed in front of his eyes. Although the taste was absolutely dreadful the healing part felt warm and soothing but not enough to make up for the taste.
Feeling incredibly irritated he glared over at Leo, the one who told him to drink such poison, but his anger was quickly deflated. He could see him and Luna both drinking down a potion each as if it was the normal thing to do. Bruno and Taka as well didn’t seem ‘that’ bothered by the taste.
‘Is it just me then?’ Frost looked down at his chest as he blushed slightly out of embarrassment, he’d become a little to used to the high life. Getting healing magic cast on him by an expert magic user whenever he was injured, sleeping on a super soft and cosy bed, eating delicious meals, and having a constant stream of mana flowing through his body keeping him full of energy and well rested.
But he wasn’t in the Dungeon anymore, he was in the real world not a separate space. Here he was just like everyone else and had to abide by their rules and follows their methods. Maya wasn’t here- thanks to him- to cast healing magic every time he got a booboo no, he needed to drink a potion like everyone else.
In fact, he had to drink two since he was a magic and chakra user as well. He peered over at the blue potion in his left hand, frowning at it hoping desperately that it was at least a modicum better than the red health potion.
‘Oh well down the hatch I guess.’ He nervously lifted the mana potion to his mouth and downed the liquid as fast as Dungeon corely possible.
‘Bleeeeeurrgh,’ this potion was just as bad, just as bitter but a different type of bitter, so he received the flavour just as much if not more. But like the health potion the liquid quickly diffused into his body restoring his slightly lowered mana levels. He was back at 100% fighting capacity.