Inside the dimly lit cave labyrinth corridor, a pulse of light from a floating ball illuminates the faces of a man and a woman.
"Am I correct that you don't want to exit the Dungeon?"
The man glanced at the woman in a maid's attire, who was walking beside him.
As a response to his question, the woman nodded with a firm expression.
"I'll never leave you, Master!" She declared.
The man, Loryarc, sighed before handing her a dagger he took from his bag.
The woman, Marie, tilted her head as she looked at the dagger placed in her hands by Loryarc.
Loryarc gave her a brief explanation.
"You ran your Mana empty, didn't you? But since I could tell that you had some high spec in agility and strength..."
Loryarc grabbed Marie's hands, moved her hands to hold the dagger tight, and looked right into her eyes.
"So, Marie, if you still insist on following me, use it. Become stronger, you hear me?"
Marie could certainly feel the seriousness behind her Master's words.
Marie is a Maid.
She never had any formal training before. Even her low mastery in Healing Magic and Wind Magic was what she tried out of necessity since her Master had often been fed strange dishes by his fiancée and injured by Galird and some other Noble children.
And now, she once more has to do something out of necessity. For not to be left by her Master while he risked his life alone inside the dangerous Dungeon.
Was Marie afraid? Of course.
Didn't Marie doubt she would fail? Yes, she did doubt herself.
But Marie doesn't hesitate.
Her answer had been set, even before Loryarc asked her.
"Yes, I'll do my best, Master!"
Her answer was her best—always do her best, for this Master of hers.
Loryarc nodded with a satisfied smile, looking at her determined eyes.
"Then... Let's make an extermination plan." He stated.
"Yes!" Marie nodded.
Dungeon: Goblin Cave.
Goblin Cave is an E-Grade Dungeon, the lowest here, beneath the Royal Academy's jurisdiction.
Goblin Cave has four strata or floors.
The First Stratum. A simple and straight dim cave corridor with a descending stair to the Second Stratum at the end of the path. A small number of goblins might spawn here.
The Second Stratum. Maze-like cave corridors intertwined and ended in a seemingly random pattern. The second stratum engulfed a vast area of almost 500 meters. You could find Goblin easily here, with Hobgoblin, the evolved version of goblin, which would rarely spawn in random spots and intervals. If you choose the right path, you could find the stairs towards the Third stratum.
The Third Stratum. A vast area of cavern. Rich with stalactites and stone pillars. Goblins and Hobgoblins easily spawn here, with a maximum number of 100 at one time. A huge metallic gate connected to the Fourth Stratum existed here.
The Fourth Stratum, or the Boss floor. This is the place where you fight the Dungeon Boss, the Goblin King, with its five Hobgoblin Guardians.
Since one of Loryarc's goals in exploring this Dungeon was to get the Skill Book by defeating the Goblin King, he had already been prepared for anything he might find here.
The only unexpected element was Marie's participation.
But don't worry. Because Loryarc had the solution for this situation.
"Before we start hunting some Goblins, drink this."
Loryarc opened his bag and took a small vial of transparent blue fluid. He handed it to Marie.
"A potion?" Marie asked, a question mark popped out of her head.
"Well, it is a useful thing, you see... Just drink it, and you will understand."
"Alright..."
Marie still seems to not quite understand why she should drink the potion, but she obeys her Master's words and drinks the fluid inside the vial.
Marie's eyes widened as the fluid entered her body. She felt like something warm and comforting was flowing inside her.
The effects of the potion immediately activated.
Marie's five senses enhanced. She could feel her vision, hearing, and other senses being more sensitive and powerful than before in two or three folds.
Not only that, her body was even affected by the potion as well. Marie could feel that her body had a lot more strength than it used to have before.
The feeling was fantastic like a girl suddenly transformed into a woman in the next second she blinked.
Marie focused on the dagger in her hands, swinging it around to test it.
Loryarc silently watched her with a bitter smile.
The potion Marie drank is the last Potion of Growth he bought from the KP Shop of his System with all of his KP.
The total number of Potion of Growth he bought was 9, with a cost of 35 KP for every single one of them.
But the effect of the potion was proved excellent.
His training efficiency and physical growth speed were doubled after drinking the potion, while his five senses, body prowess, and reaction speed were enhanced to some extent as well.
Potion of Growth, indeed, is an excellent item.
Very well worth the cost.
But because of that, his KP was reduced to just 30 KP after the purchases.
He really should visit Marble Rose House again next week.
After letting Marie train with her dagger for a while, Loryarc brought her to search for her first prey, killing goblins here and there.
Marie's agility, as expected, is very useful. These small green guys can't even touch her hair.
Only the Hobgoblins could give her difficult times, but after she recovered a bit of her mana and used some magics, they died with some number of slice wounds and thrust holes.
"Nice fight, Marie!"
Loryarc claps his hands for Marie, who has again successfully killed a Hobgoblin.
Marie quickly wiped her sweating forehead and nodded with a blush on her face, maybe because she was embarrassed by his compliment.
"Y-Yes, i-it's thanks to Master's potion..." She muttered with a smile, her fingers fidgeting while holding the dagger.
Loryarc put his hand at his waist and nodded with a satisfied smile.
"Well, Potion of Growth indeed might be helped, but it's only proving that you had the talent from the beginning."
"H-hnm..."
Marie couldn't handle Loryarc's nice words and steaming instead.
But Loryarc was telling the truth.
Potion of Growth might have hastened the process, but Marie indeed had the talent since the beginning.
Loryarc imagines inside his mind.
Marie, who at daytime is a kind and tender maid, is actually a skilled assassin capable of beheading people within seconds.
Well, isn't that cool? He chuckled to himself.
Thought that Marie was ready as she was now, he grinned and said. "It's about time to begin, Marie. Let's go."
The blush on Marie's face immediately disappeared after she heard his words. She nodded with a stern face and held her dagger tightly.
"Yes, Master!"
Loryarc's plan was very simple.
The Goblins have numbers, so fight them head-on is foolish.
"So, why not we kill them one by one instead?"
That's what Loryarc thought. Take advantage of their superiority in agility, and offend goblins one after another without being crowded, reducing their numbers.
So, after the two reached the third stratum, they nodded at each other and immediately separated, hiding between the stone pillars.
***
"Gob?"
A goblin glanced to its right at the stone pillar towering there. It felt like seeing something moving there a moment ago. Something dark... With sharp thing it held.
Slash.
"!!!"
It was fast, very fast.
The goblin moved its head to its right only to feel a floating sensation.
Its head fell to the floor with a thud.
It died, being beheaded by a woman in maid attire.
""G-Gou!?""
The other goblins inside the group were stunned momentarily by the sudden appearance of the female human.
The female human, Marie, didn't waste that chance.
She took steps forward and sliced their necks in a flash.
Her maid attire is covered in red, dirty with dust, dirt, and sweat stains. But her face is very bright, brimming with happiness.
She become stronger!
She felt it.
How her Master's potion makes her stronger!
Her enhanced senses helped her correct her ineffective movements, refine her swings after the previous swings, and literally become stronger every second.
The feeling was unimaginably amazing!
Her body is tired already after killing goblin after goblin.
But her heart was filled with pride. She's being useful to her Master! For a servant like her, what other outcomes bring more happiness than this?
Marie advanced further but stopped at her track not long after and hid behind a stone pillar.
A Hobgoblin?
She peeped at the green humanoid monster walking on the other side of the stone pillar and raised her dagger.
She took a step, preparing herself to kill it as instantly and efficiently as she was capable of now.
But she was late.
Because a sword already pierced the Hobgoblin's chest when she took the step from behind the stone pillar.
"Master!"
Marie clutched her chest and smiled after seeing the one who killed the Hobgoblin.
Kicking the dead Hobgoblin away, a black-haired man entered Marie's vision range.
His face was so handsome that it made anyone feel it might be better if he was a woman instead.
The blue burning eyes of the man spotted Marie as well not long after.
"That was the last of them." The man, Loryarc, said with a thin smile on his face.
He gracefully erased the blood off his sword with a swing and sheathed the sword back.
"Let's go. The Boss is waiting for us."
Marie walked toward him and looked at the huge gate in front of them. She stood beside him and nodded.
"Yes, Master!"
She tightened her grip on her dagger and encouraged herself.
Right at the moment.
The clapping sound of hands echoed through the Dungeon interior of the Third Stratum.
"Well... Well... What we found here, isn't it our fool son of Lapizburn?"