Chapter 3: Tis but a scratch

"Shit…" Andrew said and then used his Fireball.

            Much to his annoyance, the goblin spearman used his spear to attack the Fireball, and while it didn't destroy it, it lost about half of its power. The sudden heat prevented the monsters from advancing, and that gave Ann enough time to charge a powerful sphere of wind. The attack snapped the neck of the goblin archer when it hit its head and pushed the other to the side, making the beast collide against the wall. Andrew used that chance to stab the enemy.

"I am almost out of magic. We need to find a place to rest," Ann said while sweating nervously.

"Don't use too much mana like that…" Andrew said and then sighed. "Unless the enemies are much stronger than us, you should only use the same amount you can recover between battles."

"But that would put you in danger," Ann said, frowning.

"I get that, but we need to test how much health we can recover in a few minutes," Andrew explained. "So far, fighting hasn't decreased my stamina, so I guess only skills can wear that down."

"You were thinking ahead and even realized that… sorry, my head is somewhere else," Ann said after a long sigh.

"They will be fine," Andrew said while smiling. "Uncle is a PE teacher who is tougher than a cockroach. Auntie also knows some judo, and I bet she can easily snap the goblins' arms."

"Don't talk like they are some monsters in human skin…" Ann said and then laughed a little. "Well, if we can fight these creatures, then they can as well."

(Your relationship with Ann improved, and it is now at level five)

(The skill Fireball has leveled up, and its power increased by ten percent.)

        At this point in time, Andrew couldn't help but frown… his system was starting to look like a fusion of a leveling one with the system of eroge. He played one or two of those, so he could see the similarities. While he wasn't much sociable, it would be easy for him to praise women, which would make him stronger as well, but that also would make a lot of them hate and see him as a womanizer. He also couldn't bring himself to say empty words just to get a bit stronger, but he might need. Otherwise, it might be hard for him to work with Ann.

"Maybe I can use this…" Ann said while looking at the bow and the quiver with five arrows that the goblin Archer left behind.

"... Let's do some tests," Andrew said while avoiding saying that he didn't want someone inexperienced with a bow behind him. "Try to hit the middle of that wall."

          The end of the corridor was twenty meters away, so that was an excellent spot to test Ann's aim. In the end, Ann didn't have a hard time nocking and pulling the string, goblins were small, and their strength wasn't physical. It was their viciousness. Still, when she fired the arrow, it only flew for about fifteen meters before it began to lose altitude and then hit the left side of a five meters long wall.

"I guess I need more strength," Ann said after scratching the back of her head. "Let me try again."

"That is the actual range of that bow. You pulled the string to the limits. Any more than that and soon will snap," Andrew explained. "You can practice with it for short shots, but it isn't an option to use in battle right now."

"Only for now," Ann said.

        Andrew was glad that Ann wasn't that stressed or scared after the continuous battles. Her mental strength was something else… but she was pretty close to her parents. It was only a matter of time before their distance began to affect her mind. Andrew was close to them as well, but he had an experience when it came to losing others… it won't hurt as much as it will hurt her if he doesn't come to meet them ever again. The first shock is always the worst…

"Do you want to try the bow?" Ann asked while moving the weapon toward him. "I have a feeling that you will be better than me."

          Considering his parameters, Ann might be right about Andrew. Still, he didn't want to fight for a distance for now… just in case, and It would be better if he got some experience as a frontline.

"Maybe later," Andrew replied. "Anyway, we should rest here for a while and wait for your magic to recover. There is also something I need to test by doing this."

"All right," Ann said and then sat on the ground before letting out a long sigh.

        The smell of blood was permeating the area, but Ann still managed to relax a little. Andrew decided to keep his guard up since they would take turns in that kind of situation. In any case, the walls around them confined them to the same spot after five minutes, and then new enemies appeared… Neither of them had recovered the energy they had spent, though.

"It is five minutes… we can only walk without fighting for five minutes. Even if we stop to rest, that amount doesn't change," Andrew said.

"I see… well, can consider that from now on before the fights," Ann declared. "I will attack first, and then you use Fireball.'

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"Wha, wait…" Andrew said, but Ann ignored him.

          Ann charged another attack with all her magic and then fired. Upon impact, the shockwave pushed the enemies to the sides, and then Andrew saw what Ann had envisioned. He fired his Fireball, and then the spell created a small area that was burning everything inside. The range was the blast caused by the wind… the power hadn't been enough to kill the monsters, but they began to burn, and the pain made them unable to move. Andrew approached and impaled the chest of one and smashed the head of the other with his shield.

"... I should have leveled up by now with a normal system… but I guess I can't complain," Andrew thought and then looked at Ann. "Let's get the loot and then run. We need to cover more distance. I bet those three must be far ahead, considering that they are three always fighting against two."

"You think so?" Ann asked. "They must be pretty good since they weren't hurt. The numbers shouldn't be that important in a confined space like this."

"That or the abilities that they obtained were that good," Andrew said while furrowing his eyebrows. "Still, the difficulty level will keep increasing, so soon we will confirm that."

          Around forty minutes had passed since they appeared in that place. While they weren't hungry or thirsty yet, they needed to secure that as soon as possible. Waiting to do that when they get hungry or thirsty would be stupid…

          Andrew and Ann increased their pace a bit in order to find the things that they needed. Along the way, they fought the same teams of enemies two more times before they found a resting room. Andrew approached slowly to check the noise inside, but he didn't hear anything. Eventually, he opened the door but found nothing and no one inside.

"Do you think that they already left?" Ann asked. "Wait… this room has three exits."

        Andrew was also surprised… It seemed that his prediction about the linearity of the dungeon was wrong. They could still find the entrance to the second floor by heading north, but meeting with others will get harder. That was good for them since they could avoid problems with other humans, but…

"... The other three doors lead to the same direction, but I suppose that the side ones seem like longer paths," Andrew said after checking the corridors ahead.

"The obvious choice would be to check the shortest and more direct path, but I am starting to think that we won't walk in a straight line anymore," Andrew said. "The dungeon is split into many layers, and my guess is that whenever we cross one, we will find other types of enemies."

"Is that so… well, we should rest for a bit," Ann said after sitting on the floor. "You are starting to look a bit worn out, so you should sit down as well."

"There is no water here, so we shouldn't stay here for more than ten minutes," Andrew said and then sat down. "Just in case, we should choose a path and then stay close to leave in case we hear the sound of other people coming."

"You are such a worrywart… but I suppose letting others see how my system works wouldn't be a good idea," Ann said while nodding.

            Those ten minutes passed in the blink of an eye, and yet, they didn't notice anyone approaching that room. Andrew wondered if truly most humans were taking their time to move or to adapt. Goblins would make most people freeze, but they weren't that strong… The real problem was understanding that before they attacked.

          Those two began to move again, and they followed the shortest path to confirm another theory. Still, that would need to wait since as soon as they left the resting room, a new encounter happened… this time, two goblins carrying spears and one with a bow emerged from the ground.

      Ann was fast enough to attack the goblin archer with her wind sphere and knock him down. In the meantime, the two others charged, and Andrew waited for them. The one who approached first tried to stab Andrew's head, but the shield got in the way. Usually, he would move and make the enemy fall. Still, Andrew had to stop the second enemy without using the shield.

      With his longer reach, Andrew trusted his spear and impaled the enemy first, but the momentum still let the enemy hit him. The tip of the spear just scratched his elbow, but some blood soon began to fall… the burning pain made him grunt, but by biting his lips, Andrew overcame it. He kicked the body of the fallen enemy and freed his spear before moving to face the second spearman.

      The creature tried again, but Andrew moved to the side and then made his shield parry the enemy's weapon, leaving him wide open to a counterattack. Andrew used all his might and made the spear pierce the beast's neck. Andrew sighed for a moment, but then he saw the Shadow of the goblin archer getting up.

        Andrew raised his shield and charged at the enemy. The enemy readied his arrow before Andrew could get in range. Still, he was unable to fire because Andrew threw his spear… he didn't have experience at doing that. However, the weapon still flew in a straight line at the enemy, forcing the creature to move to the side.

        Before the beast could try to shoot, Andrew smashed the shield against its head. The first strike knocked down the beast and the second smashed the skull against the ground.

"I really should use something else than magic… and just using once per battle won't do it," Ann said. "You got hurt already, but I could have avoided it by using the wind sphere."

"Tis but a scratch," Andrew said while smiling. "Now we can see how much health can be recovered."

"The only problem is what will happen if the wound gets infected," Ann said.

            About that, Andrew didn't want to think about it, given how dirty the goblins were.

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