Chapter 528 Surveying With Adventurers
We went back to the cave that was the entrance to the Dungeon marked by a sign stuck to the ground beside it.
The sign had a simple warning painted on it to tell passers-by that this was the entrance to a Dungeon and anyone who enters should know that it was still unsurveyed.
The three of them barely gave the sign a look and entered the cave without hesitation.
I followed in after them a step behind, bringing up the rear of the party.
Oh, and I went ahead to use [Screened] on Riklan to see if he really was an Off-Worlder but surprisingly, he wasn't.
[Name: Riklan
Title: Straight Face
Race: Mahun
Stats:
90 Strength
85 Dexterity
80 Endurance
40 Magic
Skills:
Leadership (Tier 2), Martial Skill-(Sword Proficiency (Tier 2), Unarmed Proficiency (Tier 1)), Cooking (Tier 2)
Magic Skills:
Mana Management (Tier 1), Pyromancy (Tier 1)]
Unless he was using some kind of enchanted gear that can hide his stats, he's an actual denizen of this World. The same goes for the other two as well.
So… Not sure why Katsuki and the others felt he smelt bad though… Maybe he didn't bathe that day? Oh whatever…
The entrance of the Dungeon was a single stone staircase that led deep into the bowels of the earth, the first floor being a standard labyrinth structure that looked like a cave system.
The only problem was that there was no light in the cave and it was so dark that we could not even see our hands if we were to stick it in front of us.
Riklan stopped just before we entered the darkness and started to pull out a torch but I stopped him.
"I am also proficient in Lumenmancy so there's no need for that."
I chanted the spell for [Spotlight] and all of them watched as a ball of light materialised above us, illuminating the darkness of the cave.
Eita was giving me a look of wonder, "You are proficient in two different magics?"
I nodded, not saying anything else.
There's no need to reveal all my cards to them after all, especially since this party was only temporary.
I stuck the spell to hover above Riklan, the swordsman watching the ball of light with interest before turning to me.
"We already know the location of the stairs on this floor, so let's just head to the next floor. Is that alright with you, Aster?" Riklan asked.
I shrugged, "I'm just here as a party member so I shall follow your lead."
He nodded, already leading the way forward.
The caves of the Dungeon were quite large in size, which normally meant that we're either facing larger size monsters or we can expect ourselves to get swarmed.
I was moved to the centre of the party in between Eita and Kaelin with the rogue taking up the rear.
When we reached an intersection where the path split into three, Riklan immediately started walking towards the one on the left, only to stop suddenly when a clicking sound started emanating from the path.
He quickly drew his sword and retreated, prompting the rest of us to do the same until we were in the intersection again.
The clicking slowly got louder and louder until a giant spider emerged from the darkness of the cavern.
Oh… That monster looks familiar…
Ah! It's the same as the carving that Balin did in the tunnel! Seems like he kind of exaggerated the size of this monster in his carving too.
Or else this particular one, that was the size of a bus, was on the smaller side.
[Name: Cavern Spider
Race: Monster
Stats:
100 Strength
90 Dexterity
120 Endurance
30 Magic]
Hmm… I think they can beat it quite easily even without my help. Then again, they did make it past this level.
"Cavern Spider! Watch out for its webs that it can spit from its mouth! If you are caught, use fire to free yourself!" Kaelin rattled off quickly, the rogue pulling out his dual swords.
The Cavern Spider made a few more clicking sounds before doing just that, its mandibles opening up before a trail of sticky web was shot towards us.
All of us dove out of the way to avoid it, the spit exploding on the ground and instantly forming into a webbed surface on the ground it hit.
Guess I'll have to watch out for that as well.
Riklan started running towards the Spider fearlessly while Kaelin went to flank it from the sides.
Eita supported them by summoning a spear of ice in the air before shooting at the spider, the icy projectile hitting the giant spider in the side and piercing through its carapace.
It gave a shriek in the form of several loud clicks before it tried to charge towards Eita in retaliation.
Unfortunately for it, Riklan stood in its way with his sword raised and ready to strike. He seemed to focus for a moment before his blade exploded into flames, the fiery blade easily cutting off one of the spider's legs like a hot knife through butter.
The spider recoiled from the attack, which was what Kaelin was waiting for as the rogue appeared out from the shadows with his swords raised.
He stabbed his swords into the spider's back, the monster rearing up on its hind legs in pain.
"Heat and flames burn my enemies, render them all to ashes and witness my burning passion! [Fire Blast]!" He chanted, blasting a gout of flames straight into the wounds that he had opened on the monster.
The spider skittered back towards the cavern walls, slamming its back into the rock and forcing the rogue to leap away before he got flattened.
Riklan leapt up with his flaming sword raised overhead, the swordsman not even making a sound before his sword descended on the spider's head, cutting a large gash on its face and taking several of its eyes.
The Cavern Spider lashed its leg out, smashing it against Riklan's chest and sending him crashing into the far wall.
I had already cast the [Heal] spell on him before he hit the wall, but the spider spat out another trail of web at him before he could fully recover.
He tried to leap out of the way but the ensuing explosion of web managed to catch him by his left foot, trapping him in its sticky embrace.
The Cavern Spider made a few more clicking sounds and started skittering towards our trapped swordsman, intending to finish him off.
Before it could get too close, however, a part of the ground suddenly froze over in a layer of ice, causing the monster to slip and fall on the ground with a loud crash.
Eita then chained it into another spell that caused the frozen part of the ground to materialise an ice spike that shot up to impale the spider's thorax.
It thrashed around and broke the icicle from the ground, somehow still alive despite that wound.
Fortunately, that gave Riklan enough time to free himself by cutting the webs apart with his flaming sword, allowing him to jump back into the fight.
The spider reared up again, intending to spit more web at us with how its mouth opened at us.
As though waiting for that moment, Kaelin and Riklan jumped on the spider at the same time, their swords slashing out and cutting the spider's head off in perfect sync.
The headless body of the spider stayed there for a moment, only to come crashing down on the cavern floor at the same time as its decapitated head.
Just from this battle, I could tell that these three have quite exceptional synergy since they did not even need to communicate to work together. Even when Riklan was trapped in the web, neither Eita nor Kaelin panicked.
Riklan turned to me, "Thanks for the support, Aster."
I shook my head, "It was just a simple healing spell, there's no need for thanks."
"Not at all, I dare say that you're the best healer that we've ever had so far. No other healer I've met has been able to anticipate their healing magic so accurately."
Anticipate their healing magic?
What is he… Ah…
For other normal healers, they still have to chant the spell to cast their healing magic, which means there's a lag time between their teammates needing the heals and the actual time of receiving the heals.
So I guess what some healers do is that they chant the spell ahead of time when they believe one of their teammates would be needing it soon. Sometimes they might chant it too soon and have to cancel the spell to recast it and even if they get it right, it's also not an immediate heal after their teammate is hurt.
For me, I don't have that issue since I could cast my spells without chanting.
What a cheat I have.
Kaelin smirked at him, "See? I told you their maids are crazy strong. Do you believe me now?"
"If their trainees are already this strong… I see their reputation and renown is well earned. Sorry for doubting you."
Hmm… I would tell them that they shouldn't use me as a baseline for our maids but… To be honest, I think our maids are actually quite amazing too so there's nothing for me to refute.
Now for the big question…
I pointed at the spider, "You guys don't want any of the monster parts right?"
"Ah, go right ahead Aster. But try not to take more than you can carry please. If possible, we would always try to escape a fight so it would be bad if the weight slowed you down," Riklan warned.
Well, you don't need to worry about that because the Pack of Folding is here to the rescue!
Now don't mind me while I just dissect this monster right here~
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