Reborn: I’m a Dragon Girl With An OP System Book 5

As I stepped up on the stage, I could see that instructor Jasmine was not in a good mood. I guess missing out on seeing Adel's magic really did not sit well with her. So I guess now she will take it out on me.

"Baroness Cyrillia. I know your magic is on a grand scale and you are probably already one of the best mages in the kingdom, so I will not battle you normally. If you can withstand my attacks for a whole ten minutes of time, I will consider it that you passed." Wait, she calls me one of the best mages in the kingdom yet says I can only pass if I withstand her attacks? How is this fair?

I sighed and nodded my head. "Alright." Not like I had a choice, she seems dead set on wanting to vent her rage on me, and I could also use this kind of training. But for some reason, she keeps looking behind me. I turned and looked behind me to see Adel standing there with clenched fists and a murderous look on her face. Ahhh! Now I see… I forgot that Instructor Jasmine does not remember being slapped by Adel.

Aw, well… Anyway… I turned back around and bowed my head slightly: "Ready when you are."

"Then I will start. Put up your defenses!" Instructor Jasmine suddenly summoned ten magic circles almost instantly. Umm… This is a test, right!? Right!? I quickly wave my hand, making a five layered barrier. I am glad I did not hesitate and that I was actually paying attention. But I soon frowned when I saw that her spells were all hitting the same exact point one after the other, causing the first barrier to crack and shatter.

"Hmm…. Strong barriers, I guess I will need to step it up a notch." I heard Instructor Jasmine say as she waved her hand, creating twenty more magic circles in an instant. Her speed of casting was on par with my own. And what was more was she was experienced. She was experienced in fighting mages. Her attacks were all precise. As this second barrage came down, she destroyed three of my barriers.

"This is not going to work. She keeps hitting the same spot….." An idea came to mind. It was a long shot, but it may just work. Since she wanted to continuously attack the same point, why not make it so she can't keep hitting it? A sly smile formed on my lips as I cast only a single barrier this time. My actions seemed to cause Instructor Jasmine to react in surprise. She waved her hand once more, this time sending out thirty fireballs, each one of equal power at me single barrier. But this time, before they could hit the barrier, it began to spin. Yes, I made it so that the barrier was not stationary. The strength was not reduced in the slightest. And on top of that, I made it so that it could draw mana from me and repair itself.

Barrier repair took time and was not instant, so even if I had used it before, the barrier would have still shattered from so many hits in a row. As the barrier spun, Instructor Jasmine's fireballs landed in the same area as they normally would but on different spots on the barrier, causing the cracks that formed to be healed by the time they came around again. It was just enough time and speed of the spin to keep any cracks from growing too big. I looked up at Instructor Jasmine, who stared at me in shock. Only after a few seconds did she suddenly shake her head and smile. "I should have guessed the Demon of the East would have a trick up her sleeve."

"Why this nickname again!?" I yelled out. Why do they keep calling me that!?

"Hahaha! Well, It's my loss. If you are able to withstand the damage no matter what, there is no point in continuing. Also…." Instructor Jasmine walked over and leaned in close as she whispered into my ear: "Can you tell the Princess not to send me death glares? It is very scary."

"Pfft!" I let out a laugh. "Don't worry. I will get her to stop." I answered with a smile.

"Thanks!" Instructor Jasmine replied, letting out a sigh of relief. I guess it must not be fun being stared at like that by the Princess of the kingdom.

As I stepped off the stage, I heard Instructor Jasmine calling Sophie next. I did not know what kind of magic Sophie could use besides spatial magic, so I was quite interested in this test. I wondered if she was hiding something more from me.

"Faith! What did that bi-... Ahem… what did the instructor say to you?" Adel asked. But I could have sworn she was about to call the instructor a nasty word. Adel's jealous meter was off the charts. I reached up, balled up my fist, and whacked the angry Princess on the head.

"Ouch! Faith!? What was that for?" Adel cried out and asked with an aggrieved look on her face. This, of course, gained more stares of hatred, but I no longer care about them.

"You need to stop getting mad over every little thing. I am happy you get angry for me, but there is no need to act like people have run away with your wife. So don't umm… bite everyone." I was actually unsure of what to say. But I was trying to not make it sound like I was mad at her either.

"Fine..." Adel pouted her bottom lip, causing me to sigh. I reached up and rubbed her head. "But really, thank you." Only after hearing me say this did she finally smile again.

Now that Adel was settled, I turned and looked at Sei. "Sei, what secret training did Sophie do when I was not looking?"

"You knew about her magic training!?" Sei asked in surprise.

"If I knew, I wouldn't be asking!"

Chapter2 Overpowered Magic

"Well, to be honest, I really do not know how to explain it. I think it is best to just watch." Sei answered.

I nodded and turned to look on stage. Sophie stood there waiting for the instructor to tell her it was fine to start. Once it did, I only saw Sophie point to herself and a light shine on her chest and then. She became see through…. "What is that!?"

"I don't know. It's like she is there but not. The strange thing is, is that she can still attack while none of your attacks can even hit her. They just phase right through her. I have never seen anything like it before. She asked me to fight with her so she could train her magic, and no matter how much I tried, I could not land a single hit on her, but she could blast me with magic or swing her sword at me all she wanted. Although I do think she needs to manage her mana because I think this spell actually requires a lot."

"Either way, it is a spell that, once cast, she can go all out with her sword and not need to worry about taking damage or using more mana. In fact….. Why are all the girls around me scary!?" I mean, really! Why is Adel's magic overly overpowered? Why is Sophie a being in another realm that you can even hurt no matter how much you try. Like right now, she just walked up to Instructor Jasmine and cast a fireball at her from point blank range! What is this!? And I thought I was the overpowered one with my amazing system! But no, these two just showed me up! No fair, I want to go home.

"Faith, your pouting." Adel snapped me out of my thoughts. I looked over at her and shook my head. "Not pouting.... Just lamenting on life. Like when did I become a frog in a well. When did the life of a flea become so great?"

"Don't let it get to you, Faith. These schools of magic are very rare and hard to control." grace tried to comfort me, but then that was when a thought came to mind. I reached up and placed my hand on my chest. "Phase…."

A minute later….

"And so I can do it too…." I said with a smile. I forgot I could use spatial magic too. And I also umm did something that made Adel draw circles on the ground…."Adel, please stop doing that! You are making me feel bad! I didn't know I could do it either!"

"But, but, it was my one thing I could be proud of and show you with pride!" Adel said while still pouting.

So it seems I can use Adel's cosmic magic as well. I planned not to try it, but I kind of got caught up in trying the new spells I saw after being able to use Sophie's phase spell. Although I do not know what she named it but I call it phase since it phases you out of reality. After that, I kinda went and cast cosmic magic afterward and made Sei freeze in place.

And now Adel is upset. Sighing, I crouched next to Adel and asked: "What can I do to make you feel better? I will do anything within my ability."

"Anything?" Adel asked. Her eyes seemed to light up a bit. Hopefully, she won't ask me to do anything too weird or that I am not ready for.

"Umm… Ahem…. Yes, as long as it is reasonable." I replied.

"Then a hug…."Adel said softly. I chuckled and gave her a hug. It only lasted about half a minute before I let her go, but she had a bright smile on her face after.

"Better?" I asked.

"Mmmm! All is well!" Adel said happily, back to her normal self.

Sophie had also come down stage and walked back over to us. I walked over and gave her a hug. "Sorry…"

"Pfft! Hahahaha! Faith, you are hilarious!" Sei burst out laughing.

"Ummm, Faith? What are you apologizing for?" Sophie asked with a very confused expression.

"I kinda um cast your spell…." I answered while scratching my head.

"Oh? Well, isn't that normal? You can already cast spatial magic, so there is no reason for you not to be able to cast transition." So Sophie had already figured I would be able to cast it. I guess I was overreacting.

"So you call it transition? I called it phase when I casted it." transition is not a bad name either, but phase sounds cooler.

"Then let's switch the name to phase. It kind of makes more sense in a way. I never gave the name much thought. But phase does sound much better." Sophie seemed to like the name too. I guess that settles it but to think I would have three new over powered spells at my disposal. If I were to alter them in some way, I wonder just how much more powerful I can make them. And I succeeded. I can give Sophie and Adel the new magic circles. However, I should put a safety on any spells I plan to pass down in case it uses too much mana. After all…. I do not need to worry about mana consumption.

"Then phase it is. Make sure to register the spell under your name, though. After all, you are the creator of it." I said. All new spells can be registered under the name of the creator which gives mages a bit of prestige in the community.

" I will… I will also need to make sure nothing like it exists. It does take up ninety percent of my mana to cast and only lasts about ten minutes." That is true it does use a lot of mana so I guess I should alter that first. After all, less mana consumption would help Sophie out more than anything.

Chapter3 Second Test End!

Next up was Sally. She walked up on stage and looked at Instructor Jasmine with a small, confident smile. I have never seen Sally use attack magic, so I have no idea how good she is at it. I guess I can only watch and see for myself.

Once instructor Jasmine gave the okay, Sally suddenly hopped into the air and swung her huge hammer down in front of her causing a large magic circle to suddenly appear. As soon as it did, a rain of fireballs began showering down onto the stage, causing Instructor Jasmine to have to dodge and throw up a few barriers. As soon as the magic ended, she hurriedly yelled out: "Okay enough! You pass!"

That was definitely a quick fight. But I can see why. I knew Sally had some kind of magic ability due to her being able to stand on air but just did not know anything beyond that. Now seeing it with my own eyes, I can tell she is very powerful, beyond just her strength.

Sally walked off stage, and it was now Sei's turn. She looked very uninterested as she made her way on stage. But before the match could even start, Instructor Jasmine suddenly yelled out: "You pass!"

"Thank the gods! I did not want to deal with you either…." Sei turned right back around and walked off stage. When she walked over, I gave her a questioning gaze. "We went to this same academy together. She knows not to fight me since we would end up battling until one of us passes out from mana exhaustion."

"I see.... I guess it's good that you didn't then. I want t get this over with already." I was actually looking forward to the third test, although the idea of goblins was not something I really wanted to deal with. I mean if they match the kind of goblins I have read about in my past life, then it would definitely be bad.

I have already signed a waiver, not that I am afraid of dying now. But the whole fact of the matter is that goblins from Earth were known for being monsters who used other races to breed. They would capture women and girls of all ages and bring them back to their dens to become breeding horses. Not the best of things in stories, that's for sure, but it did make for some dramatic scenes in some of those novels.

I will do what I can to protect those close to me. As for the others…. I could care less. Most hate me anyways. But although I say that if I can help, I probably would. I still can't watch a girl get dragged off to become a breeder. No girl deserves that.

Grace was up next, and she only used the bare minimum of spells to pass. I don't know why but it seemed to me that she was not really trying. But I guess it does make sense. She might not want to stand out. I can't really say, though. It would be kind of rude to ask, so I would prefer not to walk into any awkward situations.

---

It was midday the next day when the last of the tests finished up and we were ushered into a large building within the academy grounds. This building had many platforms with runic equations inscribed into them. Standing on one of the platforms was the Dean once again. "Everyone here will be taking the final tests. If you did poorly on the first two tests, you might still have a chance to enter if you do well on the second test. The instructors at my side will be going with you. While they will not interfere, even if you are about to die, they will be there to judge you and your actions.

"Always remember there are two sides of a gold, silver, or even a copper coin. The same goes for whether you join the knight course or the mage course. While one must be powerful to become someone the kingdom can rely on, there is another aspect of this that you should never overlook. And that is your heart. If you do not have the will to save your teammates or stick with them to the very end, then there is no need for you to be at this academy. Righteousness and chivalry are aspects that one must have when coming here as a student. Never forget who you are and why you are training to become more powerful. With power will always come greater responsibility. I just hope you do not turn your back on those around you.

"Alright! This old man will no longer ramble. From this moment, come up when your instructor calls you." The Dean then vanished into thin air. I guess he is indeed a busy man. But sadly, although the words he said were good and meant to try to put people on the right path, sadly, a lot of these people will never act in the manner he hopes for.

But now there is a bigger issue. I did not know if I would be on the same team as the others. I am sure they will not allow a bunch of strong people in the same team.

"Faith Cryilia! Adellia Gavos!" I heard my name called and looked over at the tall, Slender man in leather armor. I guess they want me in the same team as Adel, thankfully. But from how he called Adel, I guess this means all special treatment was over with. It was not time to become regular students.

"Faith, let's go!" Grabbed my hand and began to pull me, but I stopped short and turned to the others: "Sophie, Sally, Sei, Grace, If any of you are in danger, run away leave everyone behind. Even if it means giving up your place at the academy."

I was saying this because I did not wish for anyone I am close to to be dragged off by goblins. I might really lose myself if that happens.

Chapter4 Team

We ended up in a group of ten. There were quite a few groups. I could see that Sophie and Sei ended up in a team together, which was good. Sally ended up by herself, which worries me. And the same goes for Grace. And as for Prince Lance, I lost track of him a while ago. I think he was dragged away by an instructor.

My team consisted of four girls and six guys. The six guys were Brad, Tom, Steven, Blake, Leo, and Rick. And the other two girls were Hailey and Amanda. Surprisingly none of them seemed to be bothered by my presence. However, this might be because Adel was clinging on to my arm, guarding me like some kind of guard cat.

As for the instructor, his name was Telive. He was an elf. "Okay. I will be the one observing your test. As the Dean said, I will not interfere no matter what. So if you die, you die. There is nothing I can do about that. Although I do not think any of you will be dying today with two very talented girls in your team. You will have ten minutes. So decide on a leader of your team."

"I will do it!" Brad suddenly yelled out. Raising his hand high.

"Are you an idiot?" Steven said while shaking his head and pointing at me. "We have the Demon of the East in our team. She led an army to fight against the Norian Army during the invasion."

"Ummm… Can you please not call me that…?" Such a nickname was just. It made my teeth hurt hearing it.

"Haha! Sorry." Steven said while blushing. He seems kind of easy to talk to, but….. I will not trust people so easily…. I have to keep an eye on those around me, sadly….

Steven continued: "Anyway, like I was saying, Faith should be the leader. She has the most experience."

"I agree!" Adel raised her hand. I did not mind being the leader, but I wish someone would ask if I wanted to be the leader… And now, with Adel endorsing me, it seems the others now have no choice.

"Okay, so I am the leader. The second in command goes to Adel, while the third goes to Steve? Is that okay with everyone?" I asked. I chose Steve because he was someone who was willing to stand up and have someone with experience lead. I am not trying to be conceited, but I do not think anyone here besides me has led troops in a war.

"I agree with Faith." Hailey said while nodding her head. Amanda also nodded her head. This was followed by the rest of the guys as well.

Since we still have time, I wanted to understand what everyone's specialties were. I figured this would be the best way of going about learning everyone's strong points and would allow me to properly place people. "We still have time, so please tell me your specialties and what your best magic spells are."

"Mine is water magic. Or water slicer, to be more precise." Amanda was the first to speak. Water slicer was actually a blade of water that was highly compressed and could cut through anything if it was compressed enough.

"I am more of a sword user but can cast self buffs on my body to make me stronger and faster." Steve answered next.

"I can cast fireballs….." Hailey lowered her head as she spoke. I guess she was embarrassed about it.

"Fireballs and sword." Blake announced.

"Rock sikes and rock walls are my specialties!" Leo seemed very proud of his skills.

"Spears and lightning attacks." Brad was tall and muscular, so I guess his skills matched him.

"Mine is daggers." Rick spoke softly. It was hard to hear him

"I am good at the bow and wind magic." Tom seemed to be a half elf. But I could be wrong.

I was quite surprised at the wide variety of people skills. While most were mage users, this worked out perfectly because I do like to be up front. The only sad thing is that it seemed only I could use healing magic. But at the very least, I knew where to have everyone go while in combat.

"Time's up! Everyone, gather together. We will be using the teleport to bring you a mile out from the dungeon." At the instructor's direction, we all began to gather in the middle of the teleporter. And in under a second, we are standing deep in a forest.

Instructor Telive walked over and stood in front of us as we got used to our new surroundings. "From this moment on, you will be on your own. I can only tell you that the dungeon is to the north. Happy hunting. I hope you all can make it back."

After finishing his words, the instructor disappeared, leaving everyone here on their own. I looked up at the blue skies overhead and nodded my head in satisfaction. I guess it was now my turn to give a small speech as well. I walked to the front of the group. "While I know we should be just fine, I still wanted to say something….. Don't die. No matter what, your life is important. I will be on the front line, and I will do my best to keep you all alive. So please listen to me during combat. I will do my best to give precise directions as we fight. Let's get moving!"

There were no cheers. There was no prize. Nor did I want any. I just wanted everyone to know that life was very important and that they should do everything in their power to stay alive. Life is precious, and since the nine other members of my team were under my command, I will do everything I can to bring them all back safe and sound. I can only hope nothing strange will happen. The last thing I want is any surprises, but then again, this was a dungeon. Who knows? Maybe there is a hard mode?

Chapter5 Traveling To The Dungeon

"Are you sure this is the way?" Leo asked. He was on the chunkier side, so I guess he was not the best at traveling. He was already covered in sweat, more so that the others.

"Yes. The instructor said it was north, so it is north. Plus, while it may not look like it with how high the grass is but this is actually a path that has been used by humans before." I explained. The path in front of us is narrow, but I have already spotted a few cuts in the low lying branches that hung down off the trees that looked like sword marks. "But even if it has been used by humans you should always stay alert. While it is said that the monsters inside the dungeons can not come out. That does not mean that there are no monsters in the forest itself. So be alert. If you get attacked, call out. Let everyone know so we can get into formation. I don't even care if you are attacked by a slime, just let us know."

This was also part of the test. Getting from the drop off point to the dungeon was just as tricky for everyone. While there was a small trail here, it should have only been recently created. And not many had traveled down it. I noticed that the magic circle for the teleporter had a kind of randomness value in the runic equation. While I did not get to read the entire thing, I can at least assume that everyone will be transported to different positions, and each position has a trail of its own. We will probably end up running into other parties at the entrance.

Although I do have to admit it was very hot. It was not just Leo who was sweating but everyone else as well. While we did have a bit of shade here and there with the other hanging branches higher up, it seems someone deliberately cut the branches to make the sun shine down onto this trail.

I looked around and spotted a good spot to cool off. There was no point in continuing nonstop when we were probably still a bit away. "Everyone stop! We will take a rest. Those with swords help me cut a path over to that area over there where there is dense shade. Everyone else, keep a close eye on our surroundings. "

"Yes!" Everyone answered in unison. Which made me tilt my head slightly because I was not expecting such a united response. But I guess when you say break, everyone is willing to pitch in to help. Even Leo was moving around much faster.

After ten minutes, we were all sitting down in the dark shade of a group of trees. The area under the trees was not as covered in foliage due to the lack of sunlight that reached this spot. While it was sticky and hot, the air was much cooler under the trees, relieving some of the heat.

"Faith, How much longer do you think it will take to get to the dungeon?" This time it was Steven who asked.

"Mmm… Not sure. But if we follow the same path, it will take us there, that much I know. When we reach the dungeon entrance, we will take another break and cool off before entering. We need our energy in case something happens. Always remember to keep on guard. And guys…. protect Haily and Amanda with everything you have." My last words were said with the utmost urgency.

"Huh, why?" Brad asked. I guess he felt confused by my words.

"Just do as I say." I said without explaining further. I mean, how can I give a proper answer? I can't go: due to the novels I read in my past life, goblins are known to make girls breeders! They would all think I was some kind of nut job. I just started the academy. I do not want people saying I am some crazy girl.

After a twenty minute break, we began our journey under the hot sun once more. This time we kept moving forward until we finally reached our destination. And when one says dungeon, they truly mean dungeon. This thing even had large metal doors with strange carvings all over it. But why such a thing exists is still being looked into. But I do wonder. Will there be treasure chests? If so, will there be loot that has a ranking to it? To me, dungeons were always things of video games or the system type novels that were based in video game worlds.

While yes, I do have a system myself, and yes, I can level up. This world, as far as I know, is not some video game world. Unless it is slowly becoming one due to some god finding it interesting.

Even if it is, I would not care. If people could level up and expand their mana pools to extend their lives, then I would be all for it.

"Alright, everyone, gather up!" I stood up. We had just taken a long break and cooled ourselves off. I even handed out some snacks I had in my inventory. I still had lots of food thanks to Annie always making stuff and then having me store it in those just in case situations.

There were already quite a few parties here at the entrance. The gate to go inside did not actually open. I had watched a few teams already enter, and they just placed their hands on the door, and they were teleported inside.

With everyone's attention on me, I decided to go over our plans once more before entering. "When we enter the dungeon, we will probably not have many enemies to fight as other people have already entered. And I know I keep repeating myself, but please do not let your guard down. We only have three people who can cast healing magic. While I can cast a better heal, Adel and Amanda are able to cast a minor heal spell. I will also be doing my best to cast barriers on others. But I want to make a few things clear. If anyone gets hurt we will retreat. If anyone gets taken we will charge ahead and bring them back no matter what. Otherwise we will keep going until we clear the dungeon."

"What do you mean by being dragged away?"

Chapter6 Drama Inside The Dungeon Entrance

I looked over at Adel, who seemed to have a worried expression on her face, and smiled: "Just in case. We do not know what to expect after all."

"Mmm…" Seeing Adel's worried expression grow deeper, I couldn't help but clench my fists. I did not wish to keep her out of the loop, but it was hard to explain.

I took a deep breath and clapped my hands. "Alright, let's go!"

We grouped together and stood on the spot that was marked on the ground before I touched the door. It seemed the area marked was the radius of the teleport area. Our views changed, and we found ourselves inside a large stone room. No cave or anything like that but a stone room. It was made of gray bricks that were half the size of me. The ceiling always went up so high that I could not see it. It was blocked by pure darkness. There were even stone pillars made of curved blocks that also rose up into the darkness above. As for the smell, well…. It was a little stale and had a strange scent.

But other than that, where we stood was clearly marked by a large magic circle which was the teleport to leave the dungeon. "Yes! It's cool in here!" Lero yelled out as he tossed his chubby hands in the air.

It was indeed cooler in here. If I knew the entrance was some sort of safe zone, I would have come in here, to begin with. I only knew this was a safe zone due to the barrier on the only exit besides the door behind me. When I looked around the room, there were more groups in here as well. But one person caught my eye. "Why is Sally by herself?"

"Hmmm? Faith?" Adel turned and called out to me.

"Look over there. Sally is by herself. It's like her team is….." As I was speaking, I saw one of the kids who was supposed to be in her group pick up a rock from the floor and throw it at Sally. My body pretty much moved on its own as I appeared in front of Sally and caught the rock. "Do you mind explaining what you are doing to a member of my family?"

"Young Miss!" Sally cried out as she looked at me.

"Sally, you will come with me. I am afraid if you stay in a team like this, they might leave you to die." I said with a snort before tossing the rock back at the young man who threw it. It was just that my little toss caused the rock to catch on fire as it flew past the young man's face, burning it slightly.

No one said a word as I grabbed Sally's hand and walked away. They are lucky that this was a test, or else I would have punched the idiot. But I am sure the Dean would call me to have another talk. "Young Miss, is this allowed?"

"Who cares. I do not want you to be in a team with people who will attack you. If there is any trouble, just blame it on Instructor Telive." Instructor Telive may not know it, but I can smell him and know he was not far away. Since he did not wish to step out to stop the situation, then she would just blame him if someone said anything.

"Ah! Hell yeah! We got your guard too!?" Brad yelled out. "Haha! We will definitely be alright now."

"Yeah, with three of the top students taking the tests on our team, I know for a fact that we will do good!" Steven said excitedly.

This was how a team should be. Inviting and willing to party with others. There was no need for people to shun others. Whether it was because Sally was a beastkin or because she was part of my family, I did not know, but I did know that I was glad that I was here to catch it before anything bad happened.

We had all moved off to the side so we would not block the entrance. We had decided to cool off before heading into the dungeon. I was just about to stand up when I heard a voice behind me. Faith! Adel!"

I got up and turned to see Sei walking up with not only Sophie but Grace as well. But something did not seem right. "What happened!?" I looked at Grace and saw she had a black eye and a fat lip. Even part of her hair was burnt. Her leather armor was also a mess.

"Ahh… You see, her team and our team met up outside. We thought things were fine, but the two teams started yelling at us and bad mouthing you. Grace got into it with them, and before we could react, five girls of equal status began beating her up. Sophie and I quickly stepped in and dealt with half of them before the rest ran away. It was pretty bad. Ah, speak of the devils….. Huh? Faith!?" After hearing Sei's words, I found myself standing in front of a group of seventeen young men and women. Some had their clothes ruffled up, but besides that, they seemed to have been healed.

I scanned each one of them and, in a low voice, asked: "Who was it?"

"Huh? What do you want?" I watched as one boy flinched when he asked me this.

"I said which of you girls hit Grace? Push them forward now!" I was mad. And my anger was really starting to be hard to control. It seems my ancient will triggers when people closer to me get hurt or are threatened.

"What right do you have to tell us what to do!?" A girl yelled out as she stepped forward, she gave me a smug look as she said: "I am also a daughter of a marquess. If I wish to hit someone I can hit them."

"Oh really?" My eyes went wide as I tilted my head to the side and smiled. "I happen to be the daughter of my mother. If I wish to beat bitches I will beat them."

Chapter7 Ancient Will Rises Its Head Once More

"You! Yo-You are nothing but a baroness!" The girl shouted while pointing her finger at me. I sneered and took a step forward while waving my hand. A barrier suddenly formed around me and the group of youths in front of me.

As I spoke, I took another step forward, making the bitch in front of me take a step back. "It is true that I am only a baroness, but I am also a provisional knight. And on top of that, my titles are mine and mine alone, not like you, who is only the daughter of a marquess. You have no actual title of your own. You can only cry to your parents when you get in trouble or get bullied. I bet you do not even have money that you can call your own. Do you know…. I own my own company already? That I have been put in charge of a certain area of the capital under the king's orders? I am sure you do. Otherwise, why else would you bad mouth me and target those close to me?"

The girl gritted her teeth as she looked at those around her. "What are you all doing!? Get her!"

"Yeah, get her! She is nothing but a lowly demi hu…."

*Boom!*

"Oops, my hand slipped," I said with a smile while tilting my head. My blood lust was starting to rise. The more I was dealing with these nobles who were out to target me and those close to me, the more I just wanted to make them disappear. Rip them limb from limb until their blood covers the ground. No! I can't!

I could feel my ability to think starting to slip. I looked at the crater I had just made with a simple fireball and frowned slightly. "No more talking. Each one of you will be beaten up here and now. If I wait any longer, then I might… Just…. Hehehe…. Hahahaha!"

"What the hell is the matter with her!? Has she gone crazy… Ooooffff!" My fist delightfully smashed into the bitches face. My knee accidentally ended up in her stomach. And with a swift kick to the head, she went flying into the barrier, which was spinning around to make it so no one could break in or out. It was quite funny to watch the girl get taken by the barrier and flung through the air.

"Hahaha!" I can't stop. I am already restraining myself as much as I can. My body feels like it is moving on its own as I laugh every time I smash my fists into one of their faces. One, two, three at a time. My tail wraps around one kid's neck and smashes him to the ground.

"See…. Hahahaha! What…. Hehe…. You…. Hahaha! Made… Hehe.. me.. hehe…. Do…." It only took a matter of seconds to take them all down. My fists and armor were covered in the blood that splattered all over it. I did not wish to go this far. I did not wish to end up this way. But…. It seems I was unable to control it. Even now, as I walk toward the first girl I knocked away, I just want to rip her head off. Maybe... snack on her heart… "Hehehehe!"

"""""Faith!""""" Five voices came from behind me, causing me to freeze. My senses were slowly coming back. I turned to see Adel, Sophie, Sei, Sally, and Grace all standing there outside my barrier with expressions not of fear but concern and worry? They had tears in their eyes. Why? Why were they crying? I was getting rid of those who were trying to bully them….

I turned and looked at the seventeen people lying on the ground covered in blood staring at me in fear as they tried to move away from me. Not a single one was dead, but I am sure they were hurt beyond belief. "Ah….."

I see…. They were worried because of my actions…. They were worried because I suddenly began acting strange. I guess I can forget about making more friends at this academy…. Clenching my fists, I turned around with my head lowered as I slowly walked over to the barrier and undid it. I did not dare look the girls in the face. I mean, I just went nuts. I went crazy in front of them…. How could I look them in the eye? But I have to be grateful to them as well…. Because of them, I was able to pull myself back before I went too far. But my thoughts this time scared me. They scared me more than last time. I actually thought of eating someone's heart… Is this what is going to happen to me if I lose my mind completely? Just the thought of it was making me feel sick.

"Faith!" I felt someone embrace me. Her face was buried in my chest. Her golden hair brushed against my nose.

"Adel… I'm dirty…" I was covered in splatters of blood. Adel shouldn't be dirtied by such a thing.

"I don't care! Faith…. Just now, you scared me. I felt like I was going to lose the Faith that I knew. The Faith that laughs and smiles and is kind to everyone. Who cares about the people she is close to. I felt like that Faith was being swallowed by some kind of darkness." Adel's voice trembled. Her shoulders were shaking. I could tell she was crying. But I did not know how to answer her. How was I supposed to explain something that no one else would even understand?

"Adel it's fine… I will explain things. But not now…" I guess I should not hide things any longer, at least not from those who were close to me. It would be better for them to know about who I am than to have them think I am some kind of monster. I fear what might have happened if I was on my own with no one on my side.

Chapter8 This Should Not Be A Test Part 1

We walked back to my team with Adel hugging one arm, and at some point, Sophie had taken the other arm. Neither her nor Sei or Sally said a word. Grace walked behind us with her head lowered, seemingly lost in thought. When we reached the group, I slipped out of the two girls' embrace and bowed my head. "I apologize. I lost my head."

"Hey! Faith, don't bow to us!" Steven suddenly stepped forward and helped me up. I looked up at the faces in front of me in confusion. Were they not scared just now? Didn't they think what I did was crazy?

"What is with that look? Did you think we would be affected by you beating the crap out of some ignorant people? You think too low of us, leader!" Leo said with a chuckle which made me lower my head once more. I could feel the tears rolling down my cheeks. I had expected them to shun me, but they were all still smiling and being friendly to me. Does this mean I will be able to have more friends even after my outburst just now?

"Yeah, Faith, while you may have gone a bit overboard and a little crazy, we all know you did it for a friend. There is no need to think we would think less of you. Actually, we think that what you did was quite cool." Hailey said as she walked up and jokingly elbowed me.

"Yes, to be honest, when I saw Grace like that, I wanted to go over myself and beat them up. I mean, Grace can be a little bitchy at times, but she is actually quite nice once you look under that front she puts on." Amanda said teasingly as she stuck her tongue out.

"I am standing right here, you know! Amanda!" Grace suddenly yelled out. I guess these two knew each other. "Faith, don't listen to her! I am very kind hearted! And…." Grace lowered her head once more before stepping forward and hugging me. "Thank you. Thank you for getting mad on my behalf."

"Hey, you have been hugging my Faith for more than a few seconds. Let go, thieving cat!" Adel yelled out while grabbing Grace by the waist, but Grace seemed to not want to let go at all. Seeing these two acting as usual, I couldn't help but laugh. I am truly blessed. I think with this group of friends, I can finally come clean about myself and who I truly am.

After a while of resting and me calming down, it was finally time for us to move out. Although things have happened, it did not change the fact that we were still taking a test. However, I am not sure how my score is at this moment. I probably failed after what I did. But it doesn't matter. After all, I was already accepted in the academy, and this was just for show. Whether they will kick me out after is another story.

"Alright. Now that we have more teammates, we have more coverage. So I will change our team formation. Sei, Sally, and I will be upfront. Adel, Sophie, and Blake will take up the rear. Steven will be on the right side with Brad. Leo and Rick will be on the left. Casters and ranged will be in the middle. Any questions!?" I asked as I looked at the group. No one stepped up to say anything, so I nodded my head and clapped my hands.

"Alright, let's go! Remember what I said before. One person gets hurt, we retreat. One person gets taken, we chase until we get them back. Otherwise, we push forward and clear this place." I said these words once more. Because if goblins were like they were in the stories I read, then they will definitely go for the girls first. This was why I arranged the team the way I did. Three girls up front to draw their attention, boys to the side, and one boy in the back. I am hoping they will avoid the boys at all costs and go for the girls, although this is only speculation. I mean, they could be goblins who like men….

As we stood in front of the barrier, I took a look back to see both of those teams healing each other in one of the corners. Some were even looking at me. I sneered as an idea came to mind. "Since you are all healed, you can just have a picnic at the entrance." Right as I stepped through the barrier leading inside the dungeon, I cast a spinning barrier around the group of kids.

"Hey! You bitch! Let us out!" I heard a voice yell out from behind me, but I ignored them as I continued forward.

The other side of the barrier really smelled bad. I was not sure what that smell was, but it made my nose want to run away. Everyone else did not seem too bothered by it, but my nose was extra sensitive.

Luckily after a few minutes of walking down the narrow dungeon passage, the smell began to grow on me. Although It still stank. "Keep your eye out for side passages. We do not want to be ambushed." I reminded. There were dark corners everywhere in this dungeon, and the last thing I want is to be surrounded.

It was pretty quiet where we were. I did not smell anything different from when we first entered. And I could see quite well even in the dark, so I did have some decent advantages. "Hmmm? I hear fighting up ahead. Let's go!"

I could hear the sound of a battle further into the dungeon. We picked up our pace while still keeping our eyes peeled around us. But as we made our way towards the area where the battle was taking place we heard a girl yell out: "Stacy no! Let her go!"

What I walked into made all my worries come true….

Chapter9 This Should Not Be A Test Part 2

"What!? What is this!?" Amanda cried out. Her body began to tremble. I can see why. At least a hundred students dead, and many girls were being used as….. I don't even want to look at the scene in front of me.

I looked in the direction of my so called teacher and reached out with my hand. A magic circle appeared behind him and shot him towards me using a strong burst of wind magic. I knew his location because I could sell his scent since I met him. "You!"

"You, what!? You dare stand by when young kids, not even fully adults, are being dragged off!? And having such things done to them!? Is this a game to you!?" I shouted at the elf that suddenly appeared. He was Instructor Telive

"I was given specific orders to never get involved!" Telive shouted back at me.

"What kind of crap instructor doesn't see the situation and does not think something is wrong!? Do you not have a conscious!?" I was mad. My chest was heaving up and down. I was having a hard time controlling my anger once more.

"Faith! Those things are coming!" Adel cried out. I guess she had never witnessed such things before. The only reason I was calm was that I kind of expected this.

"Everyone, get in formation. All casters to the middle. Adel, you as well." I shouted and then looked at Telive. "Are you going to be a teacher or not!? If so, then do your damn job. Otherwise, I will make sure you and every teacher hiding right now will die."

I was not joking. I did not see this being some kind of test anymore. It would be fine if this was not a test. If these people came here on their own accord, but this was a test. No girls or the boys that died trying to save them should have to go through all of this so soon when half of them barely had enough combat experience to kill a horned rabbit.

"Fine!" Telive answered through gritted teeth and began attacking the goblins. There were only a few, and they would die quickly but still. "You better help me explain this to the dean!"

"Don't worry. Just do your job as an instructor!" Even though I say this, I am not sure what to do about a few of these girls. Even after I sliced up the few goblins that attacked us, I still could not figure out how to deal with them. "Those already in the process…."

"Don't worry. I will erase their memories of this event," Telive answered. His face was not looking so good. I guess he was affected by the scene in front of him after all.

"I will thank you then." I said this before sending out a few fireballs at the instructor's hiding along the walls. I made sure that the spells would not exactly hit the, but….

"My hair!" One instructor yelled out. As soon as she became visible, a goblin suddenly jumped at her forcing her to have to attack. The other two instructors were male and were basically ignored. But what I didn't get with this many dead, where are the other instructors?

"Why did you make me come out!? Do you know they are dragging people off!?" The female instructor yelled out.

"Why are you hiding instead of not stopping students from getting this far!? You people make no sense!" I didn't get it. Why was this happening? They were just sitting there as if they were watching the show.

"It's because…."

"GRAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAHHHHHHHHHHHH!!!!!!!!!!!"

A loud shout came from a large opening in the back wall. A huge hand suddenly gripped the side of the broken stones of the large hole, and from within the darkness of the hole, a large head emerged. "An orc!?" It was a pig headed monstrosity. It had a pig face with large tusks sticking out from the bottom of its mouth. In its free hand was the body of an older woman wearing torn Academy rows. Now I understand. They hid because if they came out, that thing would appear.

"Dammit, it's here again. We will be trapped!" The female instructor yelled out. Her words struck me as odd as I looked around, and that was when I saw it. A barrier blocking anyone from escaping. Was this like the dungeons in video games? Was this some kind of low level boss? While I understood why they hid, I still don't see the reasoning on why they did not try to help the ones they were overseeing for the tests. Ten groups…. "I see… Instructor Telive. And I call you instructor lightly. And the same goes for the three of you as well. Make up for your inaction by killing the goblins. Bring back those girls and erase their memories. As for the big guy…. I will handle him myself."

"Wait, no, Faith, you can't!" Adel grabbed my arm and shook her head. I smiled and looked up at Sally, who stepped forward and pulled Adel away. "Princess Adel, excuse me."

"Sally, let go of me! I will not let Faith alone!"

"Adel! Enough! Protect the others with Sei, Sally, and Sophie. Don't forget I can use both of your specialized magics." I yelled out. I used a stricter tone than usual. I could see Adel's unwillingness, but there was nothing I could do about it. I have already decided to deal with this on my own. As I see it, this dungeon should not exist, and as someone who has come from a world where stories of goblins are well known, I knew what to watch out for. I just had to make sure they did not catch me, is all. "Instructor Telive, move after I draw its attention."

"Don't worry. I promise to bring back as many as I can. The little green things are no match for us." Getting instructor Telive's promise, gripped my sword and shot toward the large orc that had just emerged. To be honest, this thing was about four times my size tall and many times that wide. But that did not matter. I could see its level was only level 26. Although strong for most of the people around me, it was not a threat for me. I picked up my pace and buffed my speed with multiple spells before jumping in the air and kicking out with my foot at the orcs face…..

Chapter10 Locked In

"Graaaah!" The orc cried out as my foot landed on its face knocking it back into the hole.

The only thing I did not expect was that this hole was not just some other room but a large hole in the floor that dropped down into the deep dark abyss below! I couldn't help but panic a little bit as I went to turn and fly back into the sky. I felt a large hand grab my leg, and without being able to do a thing, the stupid orc threw me down into the abyss!

I was currently cursing myself for holding back! My one weakness was my own body weight! But since it was dark, I can fix that as well! I smiled as my arm grew into a huge claw and grabbed the orc above me. He fit perfectly within the palm of my claws as I pulled down and swung him back underneath me. But this time, I used all my strength.

*Boom!*

A sonic boom accord as its body flew out. I gathered my bearings and began flapping my wings to slow my descent before making a foothold in the air. When I heard a loud splat sound below, I knew it had died but what bothered me was this deep hole.

[+300xp]

"Oh? High experience for a monster half my level….." I was quite surprised. Normally for a monster who was much lower level than myself, it would be hard to gain even a tiny bit of experience, and even then, it would take me thousands of them to level up, maybe millions based on the amount of experience.

But to see experience points after so long, I was a bit happy. I mean, it feels like it has been forever since I gained any experience. But more importantly, I need to figure out what is going on down here. I can sense something strange down in the deepest part of this abyss.

My eyes glowed, and thirty fireballs all formed around me that I made float out in all directions. The area around me was quite wide. I was wondering why I could sense the walls near me or see them. Although it was pitch black seconds ago, I can still see somewhat in darkness. But only so far. And now I know why. Once you were low enough, the whole area seemed to open up quite a bit. It makes me wonder how the floor above was able to stay in position.

But as I looked down, my eyes grew wide in shock. "What the hell is that!?"

"That's rude little girl…." A voice came from the large creature below me. It had a set of horns on its head and a thin scaly tail. It was still far away from me, but even from where I was, I could see that it was very large. It was red and had a humanoid shape. If I had to put a creature to it, it looked more like a large imp more than anything.

"Who are you?" Since it could talk, I wished to know just what this thing was.

"Who am I? I guess you can say that I am the boss of this dungeon. The dungeon master, at least that is what the voice tells me. What I am, I do not know…. I only know how to create more of these green little things and the pinkish bigger things. But they die so easily when I crush them for entertainment. But recently, I have seen quite a few new things similar to you being dragged down here. The little things keep doing strange things to them. But I guess it doesn't matter because I will crush them anyway. Hahaha hahaha! But you…. You are different. You smell different from the other things. What are you?" I was not expecting this thing to be a chatterbox, but it seemed to just be sitting there.

It said it was the boss and that a voice kept telling it so. I guess this thing could be considered the last boss of the dungeon? I looked around and saw a black orb sitting on a pedestal that looked like a large skeleton hand. I have no idea if it was…. "Appraisal "

[Dungeon Core]

[Goblin Dungeon Number: XRTDS72651]

[First Boss: Orc Bruiser]: Defeated

[Second Boss: Goblin Shaman]: N/A

[Third Boss: Goblin Chief] N/A

[Final Boss: Goblin Ancient] N/A

"Hmm?" As I looked at the information, I couldn't help but feel slightly confused. If this was a Goblin dungeon, why was there an orc as the first boss? But I finally had an idea of what This place was. I turned and looked at what I can only guess is the Goblin Ancient and used appraisal on it as well.

[Goblin Ancient]

[Level]: ????

[HP]: ????/????

[MP]: ????/????

[Attack Power]: ????

[Magic Power]: ?????

[Strength]: ????

[Vitality]: ????

[Intelligence]: ????

[Mind]: ????

[Agility]: ????

As soon as I saw the question marks, all danger sounds began to ring out in my head as I quickly flew off. I was not going to stick around that thing any longer. I only know what the Academy said was a damn lie! I want to know which idiot said this dungeon was safe. Whoever it was, lied through their teeth.

As I arrived back topside, I saw the goblins all dead and the girls who were being used all lined up against a wall with blankets covering them, and Adel and the other standing guard around them. "Faith, you are back!"

Instructor Telive came running over to me. He seemed glad that I came back alive. "How was it? Did you kill it?"

"Yes…. And…. We all need to leave now. This test should be canceled. I need to report what I found to the Dean right away. Whoever checked this dungeon did not check the whole thing at all. Either the Academy lied, or someone lied to the Academy." I replied. I was trying to calm myself down. I have never seen a monster with nothing but question marks or have all my senses telling me to leave as quickly as possible.

"It would be good if we could leave but look.." Instructor Telive pointed to the barrier that was still up. Just seeing it made my heart drop.

"So it has to be like that, huh? Trapped in a dungeon until we clear the whole thing…. Instructor, do you have a way to communicate with the Dean?" I asked. If they did, that would be for the best as the runic markings on the barrier only seem to block physical forms like our bodies from passing through it.

"Yes I do…."

Chapter11 Mighty Mr. Blobs!

"Send him a message. Tell him that we are currently trapped in the dungeon and that many students are locked out of the inner part of it. Tell him to bring them back, all except the ones trapped in my barrier. They can go to hell…."

"Wait, what is hell?" Telive asked after cutting me off. He had a very confused expression on his face.

"It's the place bad people go when they die. Anyway, tell him to find the person who told him about this dungeon and hold them all at the academy. When we clear the dungeon and return, I want answers on why the hell they would send young boys and girls into a massive goblin den when they did not know the characteristics of the monster themselves. Also, tell them what you saw with your own eyes." I then leaned over and added: "Also, report the other instructors about their crime of not defending students. I will tell him you were the only one to help."

Telive looked at me with a shocked expression before nodding his head. Although he was forced to come out, I can't not hold him accountable for what the other instructors did. I watched as he pulled out a sheet of paper that looked like a talisman and spoke into it. After that, it floated up into the air and disappeared. Seeing how everything was set, I decided it was time to set things in motion. "Instructor Telive, I want you and the other instructors to stay here and protect the girls and injured boys. I will set up a barrier for you to stay in, but just in case something breaks it down, it will be up to you to protect them. The barrier that is used for blocking people from leaving also blocks others from entering. There is also a reflection spell on it for those who try to forcefully open it. Not to mention some parts I can not understand…."

I had taken a good look at the inscriptions of the barrier with my appraisal skill, and there were many things I could not read due to not being this world's language or an ancient script that I have yet to learn. I can probably get a lingual type skill, but I do not have many skill points, and if it is not enough to decipher the runes, then I would have wasted them. Plus, I can use this time to level up some as well. I am sure I can keep my team safe.

"Wait, who gave you the right to tell us what to do!?" One of the male teachers yelled out at me. He seemed quite angry at me.

"You found it no issue when I went and took care of the orc! But you want to make a fuss now!? How about I toss your incompetent butt down the hole over there, and you can see for yourself just what is down there! This test is long over. The third test will be voided as many people have died for no reason. And you…" I narrowed my eyes. "You let those poor girls experience something they should never have ever had the ability to experience. Don't think that you can get away with it just because you are an instructor and were told not to do anything."

As I said all this, I flipped my hand, causing a blue round blob to suddenly appear in my hand. These teachers were not even close to being able to deal with my Mr. Blobs! Or his mighty friends! "Mr. Blobs, I want you to keep an eye on the girls over there. If any of these teachers get any funny ideas….. Eat them!"

"Spluurgie!" Mr. Bobs' bouncy cute body bounced up and down as he answered me back. At least, I think he was answering me back.

"What is this!? A slime!?" The female instructor cried out. I just ignored her and waved my hand.

What appeared before them all was a field of blue. They were all lined up in an orderly fashion as I began pacing back and forth with my hands behind my back. "Listen up! Listen to your leader. If he says not to eat someone, do not eat them. If he says to eat someone, eat them! Your job this time is to protect the girls and injured boys leaning against the wall over there. If any green guys like the ones on the battlefield you are standing on appear, attack without restraint! Do I make myself self clear, soldiers!?"

"Spluurgie!!!!!!!!!" A mighty roar of slimes filled the room, causing me to smile. "Alright, clean up the battlefield up of any green guys. Let the instructors clean up the humans and demi humans! Get to work!"

"Spluurgie!!!!!!!!!" Another roar filled the room. I turned to see everyone's eyes, besides those in the know, so wide that their eyeballs might fall out. "Ahem…." I walked over and patted Telive on the shoulder. "I leave it to you. My guys will be on double watch."

"Huh? Ah… yeah…. Umm… Faith…." Telive called out to me in a questioning tone.

"Yes?"

"Is it just me, or do I see a sea of slimes? And they are working in a militaristic fashion…." I turned and looked at my cute little babies to see the leader slimes who were in charge of their own slime units giving out orders. Everything was being done in a neat and tidy fashion. It was one hundred percent Faith approved!

"Hmmm? Isn't it normal for slimes to work in orderly fashions?" I asked while tilting my head to the side. I mean it was normal for me….

"Not at all!" Telive yelled out.

"Instructor Telive, it is best not to underestimate the idea of normal when it comes to Faith. She is after all a girl who basically repelled the Norian invasion on her own…." Adel came over to speak up on my behalf but I think I might be getting made fun of here.

"But this is beyond normal! Since when were slimes so smart! Look, they are even marching in groups patrolling the room!" Telive yelled out.

Chapter12 Boss!

"What the hell is this!?" The instructor who questioned me before suddenly yelled out. I turned to see him near the girls that were currently passed out. In front of him were Mr. Blobs and three other slimes, all guarding the girls. What was he trying to do when so many were around? Was he taking advantage of the situation when no one was looking?

"More like I should be asking you what are you doing!?" I yelled out as I appeared in front of him.

"You! I was just checking on the kids to make sure they were okay!" The instructor yelled.

"What can you do for them? You can only use some basic spells and are mostly a sword user. Let me warn you now, just a single one of my slimes can easily kill you. Do not look down on my friends." I said coldly. I had just used appraisal on him, and he was rather weak to even be an instructor. I raised my hand and tapped the air. A magic circle formed as I spoke softly: "Stop…. Duration, two years….."

This was my own little version of Adel's spell. I noticed in the runic equation that you could actually add a time on to the spell. And well…. Now it can be used for a set amount of time instead of a short duration. Kind of like in coding when making a timer. You want to use the current time and match it to a number that you can set. A lot of times, this will have a default value, but if you wish to set the length to be longer, you only need to change the variable. In this case, I added the variable to replace the default value. But now, with him frozen there, he was in the way.

"Mr. Blobs have some of your soldiers move him to a corner someplace." I ordered before turning around. Once again, I was being stared at with dumbfounded expressions. "What?"

"Boss is so cool!"Leo suddenly yelled out.

"Yes, Boss is the coolest!" Steven joined in. This was followed by many head nods.

But I did not understand one thing. "Why are all of you suddenly calling me boss?"

"You took out that huge orc and are in command of a massive slime army! If you are not a boss, then we do not know who could be considered one." Brad replied, and once more, everyone nodded in agreement.

"I-I see…." I replied. I could feel my cheeks heating up. I don't know why but when people my own age look up to me like this, it makes me feel kind of embarrassed.

"Ah! Boss is blushing!"

"Yeah, a blushing Boss is very cute."

"Boss, do you have a boyfriend?"

Now my face was getting hotter and hotter. Before I could tell them to stop, I heard an angry shout: "Who asked if she has a boyfriend? Step out right now!"

I suddenly felt a headache coming on. I walked over and raised my hand, and chopped down on a certain golden haired girl. "Adel, bad!"

"Faith. Don't treat me like a pet! One of these bastards asked if you had a boyfriend!" Adel cried out with an aggrieved expression as she rubbed the top of her head.

"What does it matter? Whether I do or I don't, it doesn't matter. You can't just go yelling at people!" I scolded, causing Adel to lower her head. She looked so pitiful, but I had to stay strong and hold my ground. Adel really needs to calm down.

"Fine…" Adel relented but still glared at everyone once more before walking over to Sophie to probably complain about me. I can't do much about it. Adel only listens to me right now, so if I did not stop her, no one would be able to.

Now that things were a bit calmer, I cleared my throat. "Ahem! I will say this now. In order to leave this place, we will probably need to clear the dungeon. It will be very dangerous, and I do not know how many will be able to survive. I will do my best to protect everyone, but I am not a god. But, I myself do not wish to be stuck in the dungeon. So I will be diving deeper into the dungeon whether it is dangerous or not. But I will not force anyone to come with me. If you wish to stay, I will put you under the protection of a barrier. I will not be angry. This is a choice for you to make. But I will also not sit around and wait for you to make a decision either. We have people here who need major healing that minor heals can not deal with. We can only prolong their life, but they are in great pain.

"So I will ask once. Who is staying and who is going. If you want to stay, stand behind me. Otherwise, go to where the others are." I could easily heal all of them with a high heal, but I refuse. This was also why I did not do more to help the girls either. They were all people who looked at me with scorn and probably would have plotted against me sooner or later. I may sound like some uncaring person, but I do not care. They should be glad that I went as far as to save them in the first place.

"Boss…. You have to be joking, right?" Steven stepped forward as he spoke. "We all already decided to follow you from the start. We are not going to run away now. Since you need us, we will follow you into the unknown. If we lose our lives, that is because we were not good enough."

"Yeah, Boss, you should listen to Steven. We will fight with you. Even if I can not offer much, I can still cast fireballs with all I have!" Hailey, the weakest of the group, said as she walked to stand behind me. This was followed by everyone else. Just knowing people are willing to follow behind me on their own free will, makes me happy.

Chapter13 Dungeon Dive Part 1

A dark craggy tunnel was what laid in wait for us as we passed through the only exit we could pass through except for the hole in the wall. We were currently in a tight formation as this was a bad area to be in for goblins. Amanda held her nose as she complained: "It stinks…."

"It's also very humid…." Leo cried out.

"How do you think Sophie and I feel? We have much keener senses than you guys." I complained as I wrinkled my nose. The stench was really too much. Even poor Sophie's eyes were watering up due to the stink.

"But Boss, you don't look like you are affected at all." Steven said as he walked up to my side. For someone who comes across as a kid who would be a smart-aleck and cause trouble, he has been very reliable and very nice. While I should still keep my guard up, I do not mind dropping it for those who are willing to dive headlong into the abyss, even though it could mean we will all die. Plus, he was quite handsome as well. So a bit of eye candy is not bad once and a while. While I am surrounded by beautiful girls, I have no guys at my side, so this was not actually all that bad.

"I have no choice but to keep pushing forward. From what I know, the way down to the bottom floor where the boss is will take a long time. And we will always need to be on guard. I don't have time to really complain much. I want everyone here to leave this place alive and untainted." I explained. But I guess my words hit everyone hard because they all went quiet. But that was only a thought that lasted a second.

"Boss! You care so much about us!" Steven cried out and hugged me, causing me to stop moving and push the idiot off. But I couldn't help but smile. I mean to have so many people who were willing to be friends with me, I really feel blessed.

"Stop being clingy! It's hot!" I said as I pushed him away. But as I did, I heard something not too far away.

"Ah, no fun…." I placed my finger on Steven's mouth, stopping him from talking.

"Shhh!" I said as I scanned the area. I then turned to everyone and whispered: "Get ready for combat."

Everyone quickly got serious. Even Adel reigned in her anger that was about to explode when Steven hugged me. I could tell because she had that look in her eye. "Grace lighting."

"On it!" Grace replied as she waved her hand and quickly wrote six magic circles: "Lighting!"

Six balls of light spread out in all directions lighting up the area we were in. I had been trying to use my detection magic this entire time, but I could not seem to detect any of the monsters in this dungeon no matter how hard I tried. I had to rely on my own natural instincts. While it was less efficient, I could still smell the goblins coming toward us and knew the direction they were coming in.

"Caster's get ready! Incoming from our front. And the left side!" I yelled out.

"Boss, there's only rock on the left side!" Bard yelled back.

"Look at the dark areas on the left! They should be some kind of side passages. Keep your eyes peeled! Begin forming a half moon circle and move towards the right side wall! Melee in the front, Casters behind!" I yelled back. My plan was simply to make sure everyone had the most amount of coverage and to consolidate our area, and keep our blind spots minimal. By moving towards the side back wall where there were no hiding spots, we could easily keep our backs from being attacked.

With a barrier blocking all those outside of it, we could easily attack at will without taking any damage. While I could do the same if we all stood together, I did not dare to do it in a dungeon with such monsters that I couldn't even see their levels. While only the boss monster was the only one I had come across so far, I did not want to risk any sudden surprises.

"Steven, Blake, up front!" I yelled out. Steven and Blake quickly took their positions with swords in hand. As soon as we were in position, I put up a barrier around us. Not more than a few seconds later, a bunch of short green men came out of the darkness beyond the lighting spell that Grace cast. Some wore tattered rags around their waists, while others had nothing at all.

In total, there were about twenty of them, which made me frown. Goblins always hunted in some kind of pack in novels as well but never this many at a time. I guess I should not complain because my novel loving self from my past life had knowledge that was very useful in situations like this.

"Get ready! Opening a hole to let some in! Take this time to practice! Melee, kill the goblins on the inside! Ranged aim for the goblins on the outside of the barrier!" This was something else that I decided on, that we would take time to practice against the weaker monsters as much as we could to gain the experience needed for fighting goblins or any kind of monster. Everyone here besides a few has no real combat experience. This was the perfect time for that.

"Boss, leave it to us!" Steven yelled out with a big smile on his face. I do not know why but he was very excited about fighting these things.

"Grahhh! Grahh!" One of the goblins banged on the barrier. I sneered and opened the barrier up just as it was about to use its shoulder to bash into it, making it stumble and fall over on its face. But it was quickly followed by five other goblins.

I gripped my sword and yelled out: "Attack!"

Chapter14 Dungeon Dive Part 2

Steven ran forward and cried out a battle cry as he attacked the goblin that fell. Blue blood splattered through the air as his sword cut through the goblin's neck. Grace, Amanda, Hailey, and Tom all began their volley on the outside of the barrier while everyone else, Adel included, began fighting the ones I let in. Well, everyone except me. Everyone was so gung-ho that I didn't even get a chance to move after I gave out orders.

I could only keep opening the barrier to let more goblins in, but there was something bothering me. I originally only counted twenty goblins, but between those killed inside and those killed outside, the number did not seem to go down. I wanted to go inspect what was going on since detection was not working, but I dared not leave.

I stood there watching Adel casually standing there with a sword in her hand, casting stop on any goblin that pounced at her. Sei and Sophie were at her side, protecting her from any extras that might sneak up on them. Steven and the boys were rampaging around on the battlefield while Sally…. "Hmm, where is Sally?"

"I am here, Young Miss. My job is to protect you, Young Miss." Sally replied from behind me, causing me to almost jump out of my skin. I turned around to see her there with her back straight, her hammer resting on the ground as she held the handle with the other.

Ah! I almost forgot that Sally was my personal guard. I was still not used to that. Well, I guess it was okay since Sally did not seem like someone who needed combat experience in the first place. From what I have seen, the rabbit was an amazing fighter as it was.

"Alright, but please! Please tell me if you are going to stand behind me!" I really did not know how she does it, but she is like a ghost who could appear anywhere at will silently.

"As you wish, Young Miss." Sally replied while bowing her head. I really wished she would loosen up some. But I guess after years of working for that stupid cat, she would not be able to change her habits easily.

The battle kept going and going, and I could tell some of them were getting tired. Hailey was already sitting on the ground, her mana must be almost depleted while the others were slowing down their movements. Seeing this, I decided it was my time to move. "Everyone fall back and rest! I will handle the rest."

"Thanks, Boss!" Steven yelled out. His hair was soaked in sweat, which was to be expected after he ran around like a crazy man.

But I had to thank the goblins for doing a wonderful job of coming here and giving everyone some practice time. To be honest, I was very impressed with how well everyone was fighting. While some got a few wounds here and there, it was nothing we could not easily heal.

I walked over to the barrier and stood at the very edge, causing the goblins to frantically slam against the barrier with their bodies. I could see the crazed frenzy in their eyes. It was as if they were starving, but these guys only had one thing in mind, which could be easily seen if you looked below their waist.

I reached up with my hand and placed it against the barrier. My eyes began to glow with magic circles as I softly spoke: "Flame Pillar!"

A medium area of effect spell. It caused many pillars of fire to shoot up from the ground and burn everything that they touched to ash. One of which shot up right in front of me on the other side of the barrier. Once it died down and I saw that the goblins had dispersed, my eyes glowed once more: "Flame wall!" two rows of flames stretched out before me, blocking the left and right sides of a small opening in front of me. I then stepped outside the barrier.

"Boss!" "Faith!"

"Are you crazy? Come back here!" I heard Adel yell out. But before she could run out and give chase, I set up another barrier around the original, blocking anyone from exiting. I just couldn't shake the idea that something was seriously wrong with this place.

With my mana shield up, I walked forward into the darkness, looking for any signs of something that might be causing these goblins to appear. I felt that maybe since the dungeon core could create monsters that made, there was something else that might create them as well. But even as I killed globins that jumped at me left and right, I found myself not making any progress. Because they just kept coming at me in masses. I would have jumped in the air to escape them, but the rocky ceiling was too low.

"Ahhh! So annoying! Where the hell is that Gobslayer man when I need him!" I shouted in annoyance. Gobslayer man was a light novel series I read back on Earth when I was reading a lot of fantasy novels. It was about an old man who went around slaying goblins. This was where I learned mostly all my knowledge about goblins.

My eyes lit up once more as I stomped my foot, causing the entire area in front of me to suddenly turn into a field of ice: "Ice Field!"

Every goblin in a large area around me turned into a gobsicle. I then sent out a bunch of light balls to figure out what was going on. And that was when I spotted it. A blackish purple portal swirled around at the entrance to the next room. And what was coming out of it was goblin after goblin. I really do not see how this was fair unless we set off some kind of trap that we do not know about, but whatever the reason, it was a bit over the top. If anything, this could be considered hard mode. Or some kind of time trial where you kill a million goblins. But now I at least know what is going on but the only issue is that there are so many goblins, I can't get a clear read on the portal itself to use appraisal since it is so dark. "I guess I can only get closer…. So annoying…."

Chapter15 Dream Part 1

To not have any annoyances attacking me left and right, I created an elongated barrier that stretched out in front of me and also rotated as well. So this way, any goblins attacking it would be thrown away instead of just bashing on it and somehow breaking it. I walked straight down the path I made and got up close to the portal. "Appraisal!"

[Dark Portal]

[A portal that will summon Monsters of a given type.]

[Monster Type: Goblins]

[Spawn Rate: 10 goblins per second]

"What kind of crap is this!? Why would it spawn so many so fast!?" I sighed as my eyes lit up. "Since you want to spawn more goblins and there doesn't seem to be a way to stop you from doing so, then I can only create a barrier around you, and then you can spawn as many as you want."

I set up a ten layer barrier around the portal along with it all being connected to my mana. The main thing about this barrier is that they all rotate in different directions. While the outside barriers are just a precaution, the first two barriers have a certain purpose. With the high speed rotation, the goblins squashed against it will begin spinning at a high speed grinding up against other goblins, effectively creating a goblin blender. While this might sound disgusting, and it is very disgusting, I do believe this will also give me a fair bit of experience points as well. At least, I hope anyway.

But now, with the portal taken care of, I can do something about this mass of goblins. "Absolute Zero! Fire Pillar!"

I dual casted two different spells. First, I instantly froze all the goblins around me and then used fire pillar to make them combust.

*Boom!*

Well… I guess such a move is not the best inside a dungeon…. Luckily it was just a steam explosion and only sent out a shock wave, but I am not sure how that would affect someone not covered in a barrier.

But now, with the goblins taken care of, everything is set. I made my way back to the place where everyone was waiting for me and stepped through the barrier only to be slapped in the face. I held my cheek and stared at Adel with a shocked expression. I mean, I was shocked, Adel actually hit me! "You…. You! Idiot Faith! Why did you run off on your own!? Why!? Why do you always try to do things by yourself!? Just because you are powerful!? You didn't even explain anything. You just ran off!"

Adel gripped my armor as tears rolled down her cheeks. I see…. I must have worried them all. As I looked up, I could see that worry as clear as day. Although I wished she didn't slap me, now her hand is all red. I took her hand in mine and cast a healing spell to restore it back to new before hugging her. "Sorry."

"Just explain yourself better next time!" Adel cried out.

"Young Miss, please at least take me with you next time. As your bodyguard, it would not be good if you keep leaving me behind." Ugh, even Sally was reprimanding me.

I let Adel go and bowed my head to everyone there. A true full bow as I said: "I am sorry for worrying you all."

"Boss, you can rely on us more. We do not mind even if we have to push ourselves past our limits. In fact, we want to push past our limits so we can grow stronger." Steven stepped forward and said.

"Alright… But this dungeon won't be easy, and as you know, it is especially dangerous for girls. So we need to be extra careful. The thing that was causing so many goblins to appear is already taken care of. And all the extra goblins are also dead. If we had continued as we were, we would have been stuck here forever. But still, I am sorry." I bowed once more.

We all took a long rest. I took out some food and made a campfire. Blankets and pillows were all passed out. Annie really had a thing about pushing so many things on me for just in case situations. And I should really give her a raise. She is like the secret guardian angel who always seems to know what will happen in the future.

I laid down with Adel and Sophie snuggling up next to me. Something we were pretty much used to doing. We were doing shifts on keeping watch. Sally and Sei took the first shift, so I took this time to catch some sleep myself.

---

"Faith! We need back up!" A voice screamed out. I turned to see Steven shouting from the side, but this was an older version of Steven I did not know. Once again, I was seeing an image of a battlefield. I do not know why I keep seeing such dreams. But they always seem so realistic.

"Faith!" Steven screamed once more.

"Okay!" I yelled out. Unlike before, I did not dare sit idly. I did not want to see my friends dying in front of me. But what I couldn't understand was why were we fighting? Why were we stuck on this battlefield?

I went to fly up into the air to get a better grasp on the battlefield but was quickly pulled down. "Are you crazy!? Flying is death! The monsters they summoned rule the skies. We can't even get an aerial advantage. You should know this! You were the one who almost died trying to take them out!"

I stared at Steven in shock. They summoned monsters? What kind of monsters? I looked up at the smoke covered sky and couldn't see anything. The dense clouds overhead blocked my view.

I sighed and began marching on. The enemies were both humans and demi humans. But for some reason, I feel there is something off about them. They all had a strange purple pattern on their bodies. I am not sure what was wrong with them, but they were indeed very powerful. I had cast a fireball at one casually while they were fighting someone else, and it smashed into them, but they did not even react.

"Faith! What are you doing!? This is not time to be clowning around. We need a large area of effect spell off in the distance or we will be overrun!"

Chapter16 Dream Part 2

I frowned and quickly used detection magic to see where the enemy was. But what I saw was horrific. A battle field that stretched thousands of miles. A massive army was marching right towards us. I took a deep breath and tried to remind myself that this was a dream. As I let it out and opened my eyes, hundreds of millions of magic circles formed in the air. "Armageddon…."

This was a spell I had thought up a while ago. With my mana being infinity, I had no reason why I couldn't pull off such a spell but to think I was actually able to pull it off. With a wave of my other hand, I created a massive barrier around the impact point. To protect our own people and also to contain the damage to the surroundings. Although I do hope I never have to do something like this in real life.

"Every time I see it, it still amazes me…." I heard Steven say as he killed another enemy.

"I have done this before?" I asked in confusion.

"Huh? Are you losing your memory? If not for your Armageddon spell, we would have long lost this war. The enemy is just too powerful. Those damn bastards actually created something like that and then began summoning monsters. It's all the fault of those damn dungeons too!" Steven yelled in anger.

"Faith!" I heard another cry from behind me. Adel rushed over to me. She was much older looking and was even more beautiful. Her body really filled out in the right places. She wore metal plated leather armor like myself and had a sword at her side. "Faith, we need you on the west side. Sally just sent out an SOS."

"Alright, let's go! Steven, I leave things to you here!" I yelled out as I rushed off with Adel. As I was leaving, I heard Steven yell back at me: "You got it, Boss!"

I was happy to see Adel alive in this dream. But I did wonder how Sophie was. "Adel, how's Sophie doing?" I asked, but even after waiting for a while, Adel still did not answer me. "Adel?"

"Faith…. Let's not talk about that…. We can't have you having another episode." Adel finally replied, but her reply confused me even more.

"Huh? Episode?" I asked. I really did not understand what she meant.

"Your dragonic bloodline….."Adel said before pausing for a moment before continuing: "We need to hurry."

I kinda had an idea of why she did not want to talk about it. After my last dream, I can only think of one thing. But why was this dream and my last seemingly connected? Was my dreamscape inside my mind playing a continuation of my previous dream? But starting at a later time?

I had a lot of questions, but I could only think of one that could be answered right away. "Adel, this may sound strange, but when did this war start?"

"When did it start?" Adel looked at me strangely. But still opened her mouth to answer me. "I think it's been seventy years…."

I stared at Adel, who still looked in her twenties, and couldn't help but smile. I wonder if I was the one who figured out a way to extend everyone's life. Well, I guess it doesn't matter, whoever did it, I owe them my sincerest thanks.

As I continued to run, My eyes began to slowly darken. The next thing I knew, I felt someone shaking me. "Faith, wake up! It's our turn to keep watch."

I slowly opened my sleepy eyes to see the young version of Adel in front of me. I smiled softly and slowly nodded my head. At least this time, no one in my dream died. But….. Sophie…. I looked over at the fluffy tailed girl to see her standing there with a sword in her hand, looking out into the darkness. If things ever come to be like they are in my dreams, I will have to remember to protect Sophie. I will need to work on some better defensive inscriptions, plus a mana shield inscription.

"Faith, are you okay?" Adel asked. I turned to see her worried expression.

I nodded and smiled at her. "Mmm… Just a strange dream is all. How was the first watch anything?"

"Everything was fine, nothing to report." Adel answered. I nodded and sat down with my sword next to me. I looked into the darkness and did not see a single goblin, so I guess everything was fine. I guess I drew all the goblins to me when I left to check where the goblins were coming from.

But I do wonder if I leveled up at all… I mean, I did create a big goblin blender. With this thought in mind, I opened my menu to check my stats.

[Humanoid Form]

[Name]: Faith Cyrilia

[Age] 12

[Level] 55

[Race] Dragonic

[HP] 20100/20100

[MP] ∞

[Attack Power] 19700

[Magic Power] 19700

[Status Points] 555

[Strength] 1970

[Vitality] 2010

[Intelligence] 1970

[Mind] ∞

[Agility] 1970

[Skill Points] 14

[Skills]

{Appraisal (LVL 10(MAX))} {Military Command (LVL 10(MAX))} {Military Tactics (LVL 10(MAX))} {Business Tycoon (LVL 10(MAX))} {Acting (LVL 1(MAX))}

Nine levels!? I am shocked. I already leveled nine times off those stupid goblins. I am actually quite happy! My stats could once more begin rising using the mana trickle. I even had quite a bit of status points to use as well. I am really not sure what I want to level up. I guess I will wait until I really need them and then boost all my stats as high as I can. I might need them to kill the last boss of this place, if we can kill it, that is. The stats all read question marks which really worried me. I just hope it was a level thing.

If I were to really need to add points, it would probably be in strength and agility. This, of course all depends on how many levels I will get as we descend lower into the dungeon. But if I have more I will up my intelligence as well to make my magic much more potent.

Chapter17 I Was Bullied!

As we continued to dive deeper into the dungeon, we came up to another large room on the third floor, where we stopped just at the entrance to look inside. So far, we have had to do this at every large room to check to see what was waiting for us. Each floor seemed to have such a room. The second floor had a room filled with armored goblins. It took a bit to clear, but we were able to manage it easily. Each floor so far also had a portal spawning monsters as well. And it seemed the portal and the goblins for that floor were based on the goblins you fought in the large room on the previous floor. Luckily this just meant more goblin blenders for me to use to gain free experience.

"Grace, do your thing," I said in a low voice. Grace nodded and sent out a cluster of light balls to fill the room. What I saw inside made me frown. There were large green goblins inside, about twice as tall as me, with large muscles. "Appraisal!"

[Elite Hobgoblin]

[Level 32]

[Health: 2000./2000]

[Mana: 300/300]

[Elite Hobgoblin]

[Level 37]

[Health: 2300./2300]

[Mana: 400/400]

[Elite Hobgoblin Champion]

[Level 54]

[Health: 4500./4500]

[Mana: 800/800]

Seeing the levels and names, I couldn't help but frown. There were like twenty of these hobgoblins inside. Seventeen of them were regular elite hobgoblins, while three were elite hobgoblin champions. I motioned with my hand for everyone to back up. We retreated back to a smaller open area in the tunnel and took a small break after I put up a barrier. Hailey was the first to speak: "What the hell were those things!?"

"Hobgoblins, elite ones at that, and they are strong. I replied." Over the past few days, I have been slowly letting them in on some of my own personal abilities. Such as Appraisal. I did this because the more battles we fought together, the more I realized that it would not be easy to hide certain things. So I have to give a reason as to why I knew what I knew. So I explained that Appraisal allowed me to see certain things about monsters.

"What!? Can we beat them?" Rick asked. He had a worried expression on his face.

"We should be fine. Remember fighting from inside a barrier is our best means of clearing this dungeon without getting hurt. We can let one in at a time. We will work in one group to take it out." I explained slowly. While I was sure, I could probably fight them fine by myself with my current level being above all above theirs…

[Humanoid Form]

[Name]: Faith Cyrilia

[Age] 12

[Level] 70

[Race] Dragonic

[HP] 27200/27200

[MP] ∞

[Attack Power] 26800

[Magic Power] 26800

[Status Points] 630

[Strength] 2680

[Vitality] 2720

[Intelligence] 2680

[Mind] ∞

[Agility] 2680

[Skill Points] 29

[Skills]

{Appraisal (LVL 10(MAX))} {Military Command (LVL 10(MAX))} {Military Tactics (LVL 10(MAX))} {Business Tycoon (LVL 10(MAX))} {Acting (LVL 1(MAX))}

I still wished to allow my team to gain the experience they need to fight such monsters later on in life. This was a perfect training ground for them, and they could train within the safety of the barrier.

"Boss, if you were to fight them alone, you could do it?" Steven asked. I could tell he was worried about fighting such a large monster as well.

I smiled and nodded my head. "In a single hit." It was true. I could easily take one of their heads off if I truly had to in a single blow. But I was not going to.

"Then we should be able to do it too if we team up. Boss, let us fight them on our own, don't step in." Amanda said with a look of determination.

"Okay, then Sally and I will sit this one out. I will only worry about shielding those who look to be in trouble. Just remember to fight safely and fight smart. Do not rush in or get anxious. If you feel you can't win, retreat right away." I feel like a broken record as I keep saying the same things, but I truly meant it, and I was trying to drill this into their heads. The only time one should fight recklessly is if you have something you are trying to protect or are trying to save someone. Only then is such a thing allowed. While I know this might not be a good train of thought, but I would rather fight with everything I have to save those I care about than to let them die or come to serious harm.

"Don't worry Boss. We won't do anything that will cause you to have to worry about us." Steven replied with a smile. There were six boys in my team, and each one was normal. With all the men I have met in this world besides my father and brother, I had been wondering if they were all messed in the head. Well, not all but those that are much closer to my age range. Like Lance and the idiot hero. Well, I guess the Lance is getting better. But now, after speaking with Steven and the rest, I realize I was just unlucky with the men I have met up until now. Just knowing this world was not all full of weirdos made me breathe a sigh of relief.

"Alright, let's rest an hour, then we can all go in and try to fight those hobgoblins. But let me warn you, the next floor after this will probably only have hobgoblins on it, which will make it much harder to move forward. So until then, we will work hard and keep refining our skills until everything is as easy as spending money in the market." After I finished speaking, I noticed Steven giving me a strange look. "What!?"

"Boss, you really are a girl. You relate everything to shopping." Steven replied with a look of astonishment.

I couldn't help but stare blankly at him for a moment before yelling out: "What is that supposed to mean!?" And throwing a few rocks at him. I mean, I am a girl! Was he thinking of me as a boy this entire time!?

And for some reason, Adel is patting me on the back, giving me a pitied look! Humph, everyone is bullying me!

---An: Check out my second WSA entry: RE: My Dragon Girlfriend In The Dragonic Apocalypse. for the time being, you will need to search for it by name until Webnovel approves it. Thanks for reading!---

Chapter18 Battling Hobgoblins

"Steven, hold it off for a few more minutes!" Sophie yelled out as she blocked another attack from the hobgoblin in front of her.

"On it!" Steven yelled back. He was currently holding off the extra hobgoblin that had entered the barrier.

"Ranged focus fire!" Sophie yelled out once more. I had to admit Sophie seems to change once she is in battle. Each one of her orders is on point. She is a natural leader. It's just that it is a huge contradiction compared to when she is not in a fight. Since she is so quiet and barely talks to anyone.

"Young Miss Sophie is truly amazing," Sally said with a sigh.

"You can just call her Sophie, you know. I know you will not call me by my name but at least call Sophie by hers. We are all family now with the same surname." These past few days, I have been trying to get Sally to call me by my name, but she refuses. The best I can get is Young Miss.

"Then I will call her Sophie," Sally replied, causing me to purse my lips. I mean, come on! I want to be called by my name as well!

I sighed as I said: "Well, it is true. Sophie is a fast learner. She is a natural at everything she does. But this is not just something she gains overnight. She actually puts a lot of work into training. It's because of her dedication that everyone else has been training during rest periods. Our team is really becoming a strong force."

"That it is. Each one of them is improving by the day. Even Hailey, whose magic is weak, has grown a lot. Her sixe spell casts have now grown to almost thirty in a short time, and her fireballs have strengthened quite a bit. She can even cast two at a time now thanks to Young Miss's guidance." Sally seems to have been watching everyone closely. I guess this is an occupational disease for those who are guards. Always watching those around you and analyzing them. Not that this was a bad thing.

"They all have improved a lot. I can say that before, Steven couldn't fight one of these hobgoblins on his own, but now he is able to fight one to a standstill. They have all grown so much." Mainly because they are gaining levels in this dungeon, I noticed. I went against my normal morals and used Appraisal on Steven when I saw his quick improvements. And when I first checked him, he was level 22, but now he was level 30. That was a huge gain. I also checked Hailey, and she went from level 10 to level 20. This was all within one floor. I am not sure how this works, but it was a good thing.

"Let's hope we can clear the dungeon and finally leave this place. My nose may not be as sensitive as yours or Sophie's, but I still have a higher sense of smell than humans. And each floor, the smell gets worse and burns." I looked over at Sally, whose nose was wrinkled, and reached up and scratched her rabbit ears. "Don't worry. We will leave this place even if I have to use my final trump card to finish off the boss monster of this place."

Sally's ears twitched as she nodded her head. She seemed to really like her ears scratched because her lips curled up into a small smile and her head leaned more towards me. Whether she noticed this or not, I do not know, but it was fine with me. Her hair and ears were soft and fuzzy.

"Although Sei does look bored," I said as I looked at the girl who was standing there yawning. She was standing next to Adel while Adel tried to gain more battle experience. It was just her magic seemed to be less effective against monsters of a higher level. Her stop would only last a few seconds before she would need to redraw another magic circle and cast it again.

"She needs something else besides just using stop. While it is useful, the usability of it is not all that practical if you are facing more than one enemy that is resistant to magic. I will have to work with her on creating a new spell that can do more than just three things." I really wanted to create a time spell that worked in a different way. I have no idea how to do it, but the fact that it could only be used on one target at a time was not very useful. Even if we could make a multiple target version that had a shorter duration would be better than nothing.

"It would be good if she could spread out a field that slowed time." I heard Sally's words, and my eyes lit up. It would be like a barrier, but it would affect everyone inside it with time magic. This could be used not just to slow but to stop as well. And since it is a kind of domain…. The hamster wheels in my brain were spinning. I quickly began drawing on the ground, trying to come up with a proper magic circle that even Adel could use that would not consume too much mana.

The problem with time magic, or as it is called by Adel cosmic magic, is that it is very ruled based. As if the magic was being restricted by some unknown force. It could only have one command and lasted for a certain duration. While the duration could be expanded, this also depended on the level of the person you are casting the spell on and their resistance to magic. Hence why I could easily cast it on the idiot instructor. But for Adel, who has lower stats than me, she was restricted to the rules and the duration when it came to higher level beings like the hobgoblins. If she were to be able to use it as a domain, it would allow her to keep the same rule but have it auto apply when it wore off because they were in her domain. This would have the same kind of effect as telling someone to be stop for a year or forever as long Adel kept the domain up.

Chapter19 First Real Boss Fight Part 1

Seven floors later and 35 more levels, my group and I have finally made it to what seems to be the shaman goblin boss.

[Humanoid Form]

[Name]: Faith Cyrilia

[Age] 12

[Level] 105

[Race] Dragonic

[HP] 37250/37250

[MP] ∞

[Attack Power] 36850

[Magic Power] 36850

[Status Points] 805

[Strength] 3685

[Vitality] 3725

[Intelligence] 3685

[Mind] ∞

[Agility] 3685

[Skill Points] 64

[Skills]

{Appraisal (LVL 10(MAX))} {Military Command (LVL 10(MAX))} {Military Tactics (LVL 10(MAX))} {Business Tycoon (LVL 10(MAX))} {Acting (LVL 1(MAX))}

I have to admit that I never expected to level up so much. I mean, the goblin blenders were leveling me up so fast that my status points are almost at one thousand. Not that I am complaining but still I never expected to level so fast.

But my problem right now was the Goblin Shaman. Its level was kind of crazy high.

[Boss Goblin Shaman]

[Level: 125]

[Health: 1000000/1000000]

[Mana: 900000/900000]

These stats should be illegal, right? Right!? I mean, I only have 37250 health! And I am level 105. So this is just nuts. "Let's retreat for now."

We could not go into this without a proper plan. While we should be able to get by by using the barrier trick that we have been using this entire time. The fact that this is a boss and the level is like many times that of the first boss is bothering me. "Boss, is something wrong?"

I looked over at Steven, who had asked me the question just now, and sighed. "Major issue! That Goblin Shaman who is surrounded by all those hobgoblins is the second boss of this dungeon. But unlike the first boss, it is about a hundred times stronger, maybe even more. While we may be able to win if we keep doing what we are doing, I have a feeling that we might have to deal with some unexpected attacks. Things that may or may not be able to get through my barriers."

"That bad?" Steven frowned. He seemed to not like what I had just said. But what am I supposed to do? I was not going to lie to them.

"Faith, even with you fighting with us, there will be an issue?" Sophie asked as she sat down next to me.

"It's more that the issue is the fact that I might not be able to do much damage to a shaman if it can use a barrier as well. If the barrier is stronger than any spells I can cast within the dungeon, then it will be hard for me to do much of anything. I can only try to use the trick that Instructor Jasmine used against me and strike the same spot over and over and hope to break through the barrier. But this is only if it works." I tried to explain. A mage of such a high level is probably on par with the dean himself. Such power is not something one can easily defeat. Or at least I have never fought such a powerful foe.

Of course, I should probably start using appraisal on everyone I meet to get a better idea of the power ranges in this world. Although I do not like this since it goes against my morals of peeking, the information will come in handy. And since appraisal is not really a spell and a skill from my system, it should not be detected. At least Steven and the others have not been able to detect it even though I have been checking up on their progress. Although it has slowed some, they are still in the level seventies.

"What if we move our strongest fighters to the front line? You, Sally, and Sei?" Sophie asked. What Sophie suggested makes sense. But the problem is, is that all three are close ranged fighters, myself included. And one of us needs to protect Adel.

"Sophie…. You come to the front lines as you can phase in and out. Sei needs to protect Adel. We can not leave her alone." Sophie was the best choice. With Sally being highly skilled in many ways, Sophie's phase can allow for attacks to pass right through her and attack at the same time.

"Alright. I will do my best." Sophie's eyes were filled with determination. I just hope no one will get hurt.

"Everyone gather up!" I yelled out. I wanted to go over a full fleshed out plan. And try to reduce any chances of injuries. As everyone crowded around in a circle and sat down, I stood up and stood in the middle. "The next fight will be unlike any of the others. This is a boss monster, and a powerful one at that. As the name implies, it is able to cast magic, so we will have a harder time trying to deal with them. We can also suspect that the next floors will also have many spell casters on them as well. The team who will be fighting the boss head on, will be myself, Sally, and Sophie. Sei will be on protection duty to make sure Adel is not overwhelmed. But she will also be fighting, helping you guys against the hobgoblins.

"Our main priority is to reduce the chances of gaining any injuries. Stay on your toes and use everything you have learned during this time. I do not want to see anyone get seriously injured or die during this fight. We still have many more floors and another boss to fight before we reach the final boss. Only by beating it will we actually be able to escape this dungeon.

"Steven, you will be the team leader for the right side. Adel, you will be the team leader for the left side, with Sei assisting you. Split up the teams evenly as best as possible and have one healer on each side. Any questions?" I looked around to see Grace raising her hand. "Grace?"

"I umm…. I lied before… I have the ability to use high heal. So…. If anyone gets seriously injured, I can handle it… I was not supposed to say anything but this is too important. I do not wish to see any of you get seriously injured and sit around doing nothing." Grace answered with a lowered head.

I smiled and nodded my head. "Good! If anyone gets a single scratch on them go see Grace she will patch you up!"

Chapter20 First Real Boss Fight Part 2

"Faith, are you trying to drain me of my mana!?" Grace yelled out at me while pouting. I chuckled and gave her a teasing smile before clapping my hands.

"Okay! Let's get going!" I said as I turned around and jumped over everyone and began walking towards the entrance to the boss's room. I could hear everyone scrambling behind me. Sophie and Sally were the fastest and quickly stood at my side. Adel and Sei were a little slower and stood a little ways back as they followed behind. Adel and I had a talk during these few weeks that we were stuck down here. She seemed very depressed about not being able to be of much help.

I took my time and began explaining to her the idea Sally had given me about creating a time spell that uses domains. After talking it through with her and explaining the idea out fully, she perked up a bit and began working on her own rendition. She said she wished to create it on her own and that she would come to me if she had any issues. I also told her to start casting other spells as well. She had the mana pool to really cast a lot of spells, so there was no reason to ignore the basics either.

It seemed she had been so single mindedly concentrating on her own special kind of magic she had been neglecting the other elements. Since then, her damage output has skyrocketed. And her mood has risen by a lot. But she also knows to be careful as well. She knows that if she gets overwhelmed and gets hurt or dies that we would be held responsible. Not only that, but this kingdom needs Adel. The people love her, and if she really were to get hurt under my care, not only would I but everyone in this team would end up being abandoned by the people and the kingdom.

While I do hate to think of things like this, it was a sad truth, which was why I always had Sei at Adel's side, even if Sei would be more useful elsewhere. Adel also knows this and even apologized to everyone for it. Luckily our team has grown close to the point that we are like brothers and sisters now. We can joke around and poke fun at each other without issue and also help ease each other's worries. No matter how I look at it, this team was lucky because we all got to meet each other. We were the ones who got stuck together and were now fighting on the front lines to gain freedom. But mostly, I did not wish to see Adel get hurt or anyone I cared about for that matter. Because I know that if she did get seriously hurt, I would probably lose my mind.

With everyone gathered at the boss room entrance, I decided to reiterate our plan. "We will be going in without a barrier and finding a secure location. Once we get a good spot, we will begin clearing out the hobgoblins. Once we clear them out, we will begin fighting the boss. I will put up a spell to try to keep the boss busy and hopefully force it to lose as much mana as possible while we work on the hobgoblins. Only when they are dead can we go all out on the boss! Is everything clear!?"

"Boss, you can count on us. We will roast those green bastards with no problems!" Steven shouted, causing everyone else to react and yell out. I nodded my head and turned towards the boss room.

"Then let's do this!" I shouted and stepped into the room. The walls lit up with blue flames as the hobgoblins that were standing there with their heads lowered suddenly all woke up. Thirty adds in total, plus a boss with a crap ton of health. This was not going to be an easy fight.

""""""""""""Graaaaaaahhhhhhhh!!!!!""""""""""""""

As soon as we moved into the room, our entire group ran for the far wall away from the hobgoblins protecting the boss. But they still all instantly aggroed even though we were out of range. I guess not everything will go according to the novels I have read. With no other choice but to quickly move, I cast an ice wall to block their advance but as soon as I turned to tell everyone to run faster when I suddenly heard a loud explosion behind me.

"Faith, we need a barrier now!" Sophie yelled out. I quickly did as she said, casting a barrier around us. I watched as magic circle after magic circle appeared in the air all around my barrier, causing me to frown. "Spin! Twenty layers!" I added more and more barriers, all spinning in opposite directions as the entire room lit up with magic attacks. I never expected the Shaman Goblin to be so quick to react.

"Any idea how we can fight like this!?" Steven yelled out. With the current rate of magic circles appearing and how many there were, it was hard to even see what was going on outside the barrier, never mind being able to check the mana consumption of the goblin shaman. The hobgoblins also surrounded us but stayed just out of range of the barrier, far enough not to get caught up in the spell cast by the boss.

"The only way is to get the boss's attention." I really did not see any other option than this. "For now…. Let's do this…."

Thousands of magic circles suddenly appeared in the air above my barrier, each one spinning with blazing fire. "Gates of Faithylon!" Since the shaman wants to fight fire with fire, let's see how it deals with a piercing magic attack! I really couldn't see where I was attacking, so I could only attack in a wide range and hope to disrupt the boss's attack enough for us to move to a safer location where we were not surrounded.

"It's working!" I yelled out when I saw the attacks on my barrier weakening. "Ice wall! Everyone move now!" Using an ice wall to block the hobgoblins to the front and sides, I formed a barrier on the other side to create a tunnel towards the back wall. Only when we can get in a decent formation without needing to worry about being attacked from all sides will we be able to start our counterattack.

Chapter21 First Real Boss Fight Part 3

"Get in formation!" I yelled out. We were able to get into position finally. My Gates of Faithylon were keeping the boss limited on its movements which will allow us time to begin clearing out the trash. "We got a lot of adds so I will be letting ten in at the same time. We need to wipe them out fast before the boss decides to use some kind of magic that we do not know of yet."

I was a bit worried. This was a dungeon, after all. I do not know how things will turn out. Things could change at any time, which could change our current situation into something worse. So instead of fighting only a few hobgoblins at a time, with me joining in, we can fight multiple with ease. "Everyone ready?"

I kind of feel like I am in one of the MMORPG raid things, only in real life. I guess if they ever made proper deep dive virtual reality games, they would definitely be something like this. "Ready, Boss!" I heard calls from everyone. I asked once more to make sure everyone was good before finally opening the barrier. Eleven hobgoblins charged in as soon as I opened the barrier. One more than I had wanted, but this was fine as well since I was joining the fight this time with Sally. "Kill!"

I charged forward as a volley of magic spells and arrows flew over my head and stopped the hobgoblins' advance. The barrier was plenty big enough for all of us to move around freely. And tall enough for the hobgoblins to still have a few feet of room above their heads. These hobgoblins all wore metal armor and held huge swords and axes in their hands as they swung them around trying to hit the members of my team.

"Steven, get the two on the far right!" I heard Sophie yell out. They were all fighting with everything they had, and after weeks of battles, they were all now refined warriors who deserved respect. They could easily fight head on against some of the kingdom's finest.

I wonder if the Dean would ever expect that the kids he sent out to take the final test were now veterans in battle far surpassing anyone at the academy. Even Hailey, the weakest of our team, had learned how to use the gatling fireball attack I created. And she had mastered it so well that she could now keep three of them up at the same time.

As I got near my target, My body twisted as I leaped forward and swung my sword, cutting off the arm with the weapon before landing on my feet and leaping forward once more and stabbing my sword in the hobgoblin's neck. With a bit of force, I swung my sword out, causing the head to fall and dangle to one side as the body of the huge hobgoblin fell to the ground.

It might seem like a gruesome attack, but I did not have time to care about finesse or clean cutting. I already started moving to my next target. Five minutes was all it took before all eleven hobgoblins were dead, and more were let in. We repeated our moves once more, but just as the last hobgoblin of the second batch was killed, I suddenly sensed extreme danger coming from below us. "Watch your feet!" I yelled out as orange circles began to appear on the ground. "Get out of the circles now!"

As soon as I said this, not even a second later, pillars of flames shot up towards the ceiling and broke my barrier from within. I had not made the barriers to withstand any attacks from inside, so they shattered into nothing. And it was lucky that I didn't because if I did, those flames would have filled the entire barrier area and roasted everyone alive. "Everyone okay!?"

"Faith, we don't have time to worry about injuries! Look up!" I heard Sei yell out. I looked up at the ceiling to see thousands of magic circles overhead. My head immediately shot towards the boss, who was giving us a creepy smile and then slammed his staff onto the ground. "No!"

Without even thinking about what to do next, my arm expanded and grew large, casting a shadow over everyone but myself. The ice magic rained down from thematic circles, piercing into my arm and body, causing me to clench my teeth. "Ah!" The pain was too much. I couldn't help but cry out. Everything was just too fast. No time to think, could only react on instinct. And in doing so, I revealed one of my biggest secrets.

Blood dripped down my back and arm as my hand returned to normal size. The ice attack seemed to be only a one time deal. But that did not change the fact that I was heavily injured just now, and to be honest, it hurt, it hurt a lot. "Faith!" "Boss!"

"Grace quickly, come, heal Faith!" I heard Sophie yell out. But I shook my head. "What are you doing! We are in battle. Get your asses back into formation!"

I yelled out as I clutched my arm and stood up as I whispered: "High heal!" My body glowed with a golden light as the wounds on my body began to heal up. I turned and looked at everyone who was looking at me in shock and yelled out: "What are you doing!?"

"Sorry, Boss!" Steven was the first to react, and luckily so because a hobgoblin was already swinging his sword at him. The battle was far from over. We still had the boss and ten hobgoblins left to deal with.

"Young Miss just now?" Sally came to my side and asked.

"I will explain later, but for now, we need to deal with the issue at hand. Keep on your toes and look for any orange spots on the ground." I let out a sigh of relief. At least I reacted fast enough. If my body was not as durable as it is, I would have suffered greatly from that attack. My health even dropped by half just now. That was how powerful of an attack that was. I have a feeling I will need full dragon mode for the last boss. So I will need to come clean about everything sooner than later.

Chapter22 First Real Boss Fight Part 4

No one had time to even care about my partial transformation. While Sally was curious, she did not push the issue anymore. After the last hobgoblin was killed, the boss was all that was left, and to be honest, I am still unsure if we can beat this thing. "Barriers are useless against this thing as it is able to cast its area of attack inside of it. We will all need to be on guard. "

"Faith leave barriers to me. I will protect those who can't move in time." Sei yelled over to me. Sei was a barrier expert so having her deal with them was perfect since she couldn't leave Adel's side.

"Alright! Sei, you are on barriers, Grace, you are on heals. Only heal those seriously injured. Everyone else, focus on the boss!" I gave out my final order before buffing my body and shooting forward. I planned to be the main tank. As soon as the boss saw me coming, it instantly surrounded me with magic circles.

I had no choice but to dodge out of the way as ice spears blasted the location I was just in. My eyes lit up, creating many magic circles around me. Ice spears formed and shot back at the boss.

But the boss's barrier seemed to block everything. It was quite annoying. With a wave of my hand, the flame swords from my Gates of Faithylon all turned and began targeting the same spot on the barrier of the boss. I watched in anticipation, but the barrier did not seem to want to break at all. With no choice, I jumped into the air and formed foot holds under me as I launched myself at the area my flame swords were targeting. My arm grew huge once more as I smashed down on the barrier, causing it to suddenly shatter into sparkles of light. "It's down! Full on attack!"

Stepping on air one more, I shot forward towards the boss, who was now defenseless and swung my hand down at it with my claws gleaming under the blue light. But I guess I was celebrating a bit too soon...

*Boom!*

The room shook as the area where the boss was standing sunk down. My claws were stuck in some kind of barrier that halted my advance. I saw the boss look up at me with an eerie grin and wave its staff. "Mana shield!" I quickly covered my body in a mana shield, only to be sent flying up towards the ceiling as a large spike of ice shot up from the ground and slammed into my mana shield.

Feeling my body slamming into the hard rocky surface caused me to spit up a mouth full of blood. I never thought this stupid boss would be so hard. Having so many shields was just nuts. "What are you doing to my Young Miss!?" I heard Sally suddenly yell out and a loud bang sound. I looked down to see Sally pushing down hard on her hammer that seemed to have rockets firing out of the back end of it as she tried to break the second barrier.

Melting the large ice spike that had embedded me into the wall, I let my body fall straight down as both my arms turned into huge dragon claws. The early incident made me realize that I could actually make my claws grow as large as I wanted. Before, I never really thought about it, but now I noticed that I seem to be able to change my size at will. Whether this worked in my dragon form or not is another story. But in a partial transformation, I can.

*Boom!*

Once more, I landed hard on the barrier protecting the boss, trying to give it everything I had. Sally had already had to move to avoid another ice spike. At this time, the boss seemed to be just playing around as it had not attacked anyone else since the first barrier was broken.

I had no idea what the others thought of me at this time. Nor did I care. If they stop talking to me once they find out that I am a full fledged dragon, then so be it. But I will make sure before I leave this place that everyone signs a magic contract forbidding them from releasing details about me. Because if others find out, I will never get to leave a normal life again.

*Crack!*

Hearing the cracking sound coming from the barrier made my eyes light up. A small hole as big as my head finally appeared in the barrier, but it was rapidly repairing itself. Not wanting to miss this chance, I sucked in a deep breath and let out a stream of dragon fire into the barrier filling the barrier up with my dragon flames.

"GRAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAHHHHHHHHHH!!!!!!!!!!!!!"

For the first time since the start of the battle, the boss finally took some damage! "Boss, hurt it! Keep hitting the barrier! Break it down!" I heard Adel yell out.

I gripped the barrier with my claws as I stopped my dragon flames and pulled hard on the barrier. More cracking was heard and then.

*Boom!*

The whole barrier shattered. Seconds later, a volley of attacks began landing on the boss, causing it to scream out in pain. It turned its head at me with a sinister gaze and waved its staff. It seemed to think I was the biggest threat. But before it could even cast a spell, Sally was right there to bash it in the face with her hammer.

"Keep attacking. We now have the advantage!" I shouted as I turned my Gates of Faithylon to strike the boss all over from head to toe. Our onslaught continued for almost five minutes when suddenly the boss slammed its staff on the ground and let out a blood curdling scream. The whole room suddenly turned red, followed by an ear piercing sound.

"SCREEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEE!"

Everyone was forced to stop attacking and cover their ears. But what we saw next caused all of our faces to pale. A large black flaming monster slowly rose up from the ground....

Chapter23 First Real Boss Fight End

A large black flaming bird stood over us and spread its wings out while giving off an ear piercing screech. "Appraisal!"

[Lower Black Flame Phoenix (Summon)]

[Level: 90]

[Health: 500000/500000]

[Mana: 100000/100000]

Seeing the stats caused me to frown. It was already hard enough to fight the boss, but now we had basically a mini boss to fight as well. "Faith, leave the bird to me!" I heard Sophie yell out. I turned and looked at the fox girl who was standing there with her sword in hand, staring at the summoned creature.

The look of determination in her eyes filled me with confidence. I let out a long breath as I yelled out: "Everyone, listen up! We will fight the boss. Sophie is in charge of the bird. Grace, you are in charge of keeping Sophie alive! Sei, you are still on barriers! Don't falter, and keep aware! Watch where you are standing in case of area of effect spells. And most importantly…. Kill this bastard!"

"Yeah!!!!!!!!!!!"

I heard the fighting spirit of my team and smiled. Everyone once again regained their composure and began our third assault on this stupid boss. I charged forward with Sally at my side. We both jumped through the air to get in position over the boss. But before attacking, I waved my hand and created another Gates of Faithylon, but this time, it was an ice version that was pointing at the summoned phoenix. I wanted to give Sophie as much cover as I could.

Once it was set, I turned my attention back to the boss, who looked up at me with blood shot eyes. It was definitely enraged. My guess is that it half expected to be able to rest. I am sure it never thought that we would leave one person to fight the monstrosity by themselves. But Sophie could easily use phase. No matter what that bird threw at her, she would come out unscathed.

But this did make my job slightly harder because I was acting as a healer for those fighting the boss.

As time ticked by each of our attacks were slamming into the boss, keeping it from being able to do much of anything. "Appraisal!"

[Boss Goblin Shaman]

[Level: 125]

[Health: 900000/1000000]

[Mana: 1000/900000]

It wasn't much, but we were getting somewhere. The only good thing was that it seemed that summoning the phoenix had drained its mana to almost nothing. This meant that the boss was basically placing all its bets on the summon. "Go all out! The boss has barely any mana left!"

As I yelled this out, I created large spikes of ice and stone in the air and slammed them down onto the Boss.

"GRAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAH!!!!!!!!!"

[Status: Bleeding]

[Boss Goblin Shaman]

[Level: 125]

[Health: 500000/1000000]

[Mana: 1000/900000]

One attack like that was enough to drop its health by four hundred thousand. It seems as long as you get rid of its barriers, the boss is weak to all attacks. Everyone was attacking left and right. I watched as the attacks were quickly draining the boss's life. The boss was flailing about swinging its staff, trying to hit the melee, but luckily the boss was unable to hit anyone. Its aim was bad, and its movements were becoming sluggish.

[Health: 100000/1000000]

[Health: 60000/1000000]

"Take this! Mega Hammer!" Sally suddenly yelled out, causing me to look up. The rabbit girl was soaring through the air with a hammer ten times the size of the boss.

*Booom!*

[Gained 100000 XP]

A notification suddenly popped up in front of me. Seeing this, I let out a sigh of relief. But I did not lower my guard down yet. I turned to see how Sophie was doing but what I saw was a fox girl lying on her back, her chest moving up and down. Her hair was soaked in sweat all the way down to the tips of her tail with no signs at all of the summoned phoenix. "We…."

"We did it!" Steven shouted, causing cheers to fill the boss's room. We really did do it. I stood in the air, looking down at the half squashed boss and then at everyone else, and smiled. We defeated the odds. We survived what should have killed us. This sense of victory felt…. Amazing!

The last thing I would have ever expected was to be tossed into an even more fantasy style setting. Dungeons and bosses. The feeling of victory when you take down the boss you spent so much energy fighting. But here we are, each one of us alive and well. While some had minor injuries, it was nothing compared to the thought of what could have happened.

I landed on the ground and walked over to the boss, that began to turn into balls of light and froze. My eyes lit up…. "Shiny!" I don't know what came over me, but as soon as I saw the glittering gem lying on the ground, my body moved on its own as I reached out and grabbed the shiny object and hugged it as if protecting my most precious. It was a blue gem, unlike anything I had ever seen before. "Appraisal"

[System Stone]

[Consumable]

[Gives one person a system.]

[Systems allow one to gain new skills by using skill points. It also allows one to gain status points upon leveling up and unlocks hidden potential.]

Seeing the information, I quickly stored the stone and took out a stone from my inventory that looked just like it. I hate to say it, but I was unsure of what to think about this stone. Luckily my attraction to shiny objects allowed me to pick it up first.

In a way, it was like the evolution stone, which I have not seen since that day. It made me worry that the wrong people would gain such systems and throw the current world power balance out of whack. I looked down to make sure there were no other stones, but other than some armor and weapons there was nothing else.

"Faith?" Adel came running up to me with a worried look. I pursed my lips and held the stone in my hand a bit tighter. "I am not going to take it away, I was just checking to see if you were okay. You have been firing off magic left and right this entire time, not to mention your arm…."

Chapter24 System

Hearing Adel's words and seeing how much she was worried, I stored my stone away and walked over to her, took her hand, and walked away from everyone else. Adel was my first true friend in this world, and I did not want to hide anything from her any longer. I sat her down and set up a barrier around us to isolate us from everyone else. "As you have seen…. I am not a normal demi human."

"I kind of figured that out a long ago." Adel said with a teasing smile. I just rolled my eyes as I continued.

"Adel, what I am about to tell you is something that is one of my greatest secrets. I am telling you first out of everyone else because you were my first friend and are also my best friend. I do plan to tell Sophie soon, and I will be forcing the others to sign a magic contract to seal their mouths about my transformation. But…." I went to tell Adel everything, but she reached out and placed a finger on my mouth.

Adel smiled at me as she pulled her finger back. "First off, you do not need to worry so much. I will protect you with everything I have. While magic contracts are good, with the right skills, they can also be broken. You will need to set up a blood seal contract with those who you do not trust. I will show you how it is done later. But this is a secret. Not many know that magic contracts are breakable if you find someone powerful enough to nullify it."

I smiled and nodded. "Then I will leave it to you to help me with that. But to let you know, I am what is called a Dragonic. I am half dragon, half demon. Although I was never originally like this. I once had the blood of my family running through me. But now, I am of a different bloodline that has not been seen since ancient times.

"What you saw earlier was only a partial transformation. I can actually transform into a full pledged dragon. And I will probably have to on the next two bosses, which was why I decided to have everyone else sign a contract. I do not wish word of me being dragon to get out as it will cause many people to chase after me." I did not wish to cause the people around me to come under attack because people were trying to get to me.

"I see... Well, you can be sure that I will do whatever I can to make sure that no one finds out. To prove it, I will also sign a blood seal contract with you as well." Adel replied with a smile. I couldn't help but let out a sigh. Adel was always willing to go to such great lengths for me.

I lowered my head and fell into deep thought. I do not know if I should do this or not, as I don't know what it will do to her, but if the system stone works and Adel could begin leveling up and raise her mana, she may be able to live a long, long life as long as she increases her mana pool. I also know I can not keep this system stone a secret as others will also probably find them or already have found them. After all, dungeons are popping up everywhere now.

"Adel….." I reached into my inventory and pulled out the system stone, and handed it to her. "This is what is called a system stone. It is able to give one a system that allows them to grow stronger by killing monsters. As you level up, you will gain status points that you can then allocate as you wish. This means you can even raise your mana pool…. Umm… I am not sure of the risks. I am not sure if you will be harmed if you use it. But I do know that if people find these and begin raiding dungeons to gain more power, then the world as we know it will begin to change and change quickly. I…. I was born with a system, so I know how they work…."

I was not going to tell her about my infinity mana or anything like that or how I came from another world since even if that is the case, I was still born on this world, making me a legitimate resident of this world. But letting her know that I do have a system will at least allow her to understand that I am not lying to her about this. However, it is hard to prove it.

"A system stone, huh?" Adel reached out and took the stone from my hand. As soon as she did, a blue screen suddenly popped out of the stone. "Ah!?"

I quickly moved to sit in front of it so no one else could see it. The screen had a simple sentence with yes or no buttons. It read: "Use Item?"

"This didn't happen when you touched it?" Adel asked as she looked up at me.

"I think it is because I have a system of my own. So I guess I wouldn't be able to use it." This was the only solution I could think of as to why it did not ask me if I wanted to use it.

"I see… well… Since others will probably find such things themselves, I do not wish to be left behind if the world as we know it will change so…."

"Wait!" I yelled out as I went to try to stop this stupid, impulsive princess, but I was too late. Her finger had already hit the Yes button, and the stone glowed before turning into a stream of blue light and entering Adel's body. Her body glowed blue for a brief second before returning to normal. "Adle! Adel!"

"I…. I see many numbers in front of me…. A thing called HP and MP….. Words such as strength and vitality and a bunch more things…. Is this the system thing!?" Adel asked in a somewhat excited voice. But as for me, I felt like my heart was about to jump out of my chest! I mean, yes, I gave her the stone in case she wanted to use it, but I figure she would test the thing out first on someone else before actually using it! I do not know if Adel is crazy or what, but really….

"Faith, are you okay?" Adel asked in a concerned voice. I looked up at her and shook my head as I yelled! "Not with you giving me a heart attack!"

Chapter25 Teaming Function

Adel pursed her lips and reached over, flicking me on the forehead. "Now, do you understand the things I go through when you do things that make me worry to the point that I feel like I might die?"

I really couldn't argue with her when she puts it like that. I mean, I did cause her a lot of issues these past few weeks. But still for her to go ahead and hit yes without even much less than a second worth of thought. It just did not seem like her. "Adel, even if that is the case, why did you hit yes without even considering what may have happened to you?"

"Hmm? Well, as I see it, it was either me or some poor soul who would be killed after. I would rather test it out on myself than on some citizen. Plus, what if these things are rare? If you have a system and are able to really gain such great power, then I want to be able to do the same. Other kingdoms will probably be doing such things as well. Except they will test it from the start and see if it is hazardous to the royal families. But if I can get a head start and use my time in this dungeon to really grow more powerful, then the Gravos Kingdom will have a head start. And I will be the one to lead it in this new era." Adel's words made sense, but I still did not like how she used the stone without hesitation.

"Well, tell me if you feel off or anything. If you start having strange thoughts or do not feel like you are in control of your body. I will stop time for you until we figure out a way to cure you. Or I could even reverse time to when you did not have it." I could only do so much. If Adel really had an issue with this new system where it tried to control her or something, the only way to keep her from destroying herself or others would be to stop time for her or try to reverse time for her until the point where she did not have a system.

"This is the reason why I did not hesitate to use it. With you here, what could go wrong?" Adel said with a smile. "Faith, this menu thing says I am level 89 and have 440 status points. What should I put my status points in?"

"Hmmm, you are mainly more of a support mage type, so I would think intelligence and mind should both have 150 points. The last 140 should be vitality 70 and agility 70. This vitality and agility will allow you to take more hits and also make you faster. In the future, put two points into intelligence and mind and then alternate your other point between agility and vitality." I figured for a support type character this was the best way to grow stronger. She did not need strength since she did not use a sword. But now that she could raise mind this meant she could live a lot longer. At least, I think anyway. As long as her mana pool increases, her lifespan will also increase.

I hate to say it because it sounds like I am using Adel as a test subject, but if this works out, I will probably try to farm dungeons to get more system stones for my family…

While this brings more risks as they will need to fight monsters, if it allows them to live longer, I think some of the risks are worth it, especially with how strong my Mother and Father are. That is, if they do wish to expand their lives. I would not force this upon them. It would be up to them to use it or not.

"Okay, done!" Adel said with a smile as she stood up and hopped up and down a few times. "I do surprisingly feel lighter."

"How much mana do you have now?" I was curious to just how much her stats were raised.

"Mmm, it says 3400. And my health is 2300," Adel answered. I pursed my lips since I do not know how good the mana part was. But I do think her health might be slightly too low. I guess this just means I will need to keep a closer eye on her. "If there was a teaming system like in games…." I mumbled, but as soon as the words left my mouth, a window appeared in front of me.

[System Notification: Team Window Unlocked!]

[You can now form teams and share XP between team members.]

I face palmed as I looked at this, but it was definitely a good thing. I just never thought it would actually have such a function, but this does make me wonder just how connected this system thing is to the system I was born with. Were the dungeons and other things also related to the system as well?

I do know one thing, and that was that everyone was gaining passive levels while gradually gaining boosts to their stats without a system. Once they get a system, they will also gain all the status points they would have gotten for each level they gained while in this dungeon, just like how Adel did. At least, I think anyway.

Since there is no way of knowing, for now, I guess I should test out this team function now that I have it. I sighed and softly spoke: "Team Adel."

"What!?" Adel cried out in shock as another window popped up in front of her. "Faith, what is this team thing?"

"It allows us to team together and share experience. In other words, you can grow stronger without having to do much of anything. What other things it may do, I don't know yet. Just hit yes for now, and we can find out."

Adel nodded and hit the yes button. I got a notification that she had joined my team and saw a new set of HP and MP bars appear at the top left of my peripheral vision. "What is this crazy health!? 37250!?"

I heard Adel cry out. I guess she could see my stat numbers for health and MP… which means… "And what is this weird sign where it says, Mana?"

Adel looked up at me with a questioning gaze, causing me to sigh once more. "Le'ts just say that I don't ever have to worry about mana…."

Chapter26 Blood Seal Contract

Adel pursed her lips. "No wonder you can cast so much all the time. With your health and all the mana you have, you are basically a walking fortress…."

"I actually can't deny that, but as you saw earlier, I am not immune to harm." Earlier, I was hurt pretty bad. If myself or Grace did not have high heal, I would have been in a lot of trouble, I could also have died. But to save the lives of those near me, I was willing to take the risk.

"That is true. I thought my heart was going to stop earlier." Adel said with a bitter smile before changing the subject.

"We should not announce this system thing just yet. If we get more, we should give them to Sally and Sophie. They are the closest to you besides me." Adel once again was thinking more on my behalf than anything else.

"If we get more, even if it is only one, we should give it to your fa…." Adel quickly interrupted me.

"No. He is unable to move freely as King. How would he have time to level up? If you wish to give one to the kingdom, it should go to Lance. Although I do hate saying it, and he will probably take the idea of you giving him anything even if it was a nerdal poop as you showing your love to him, he is set to be the next King. And he has been doing quite well on learning things." What Adel said did make sense. The King really could not move around as he wished since he was the ruler of the kingdom. If he went into a dungeon and spies from a hostile kingdom found out, they would use the chance to kill him and blame it on a dungeon. But if I gave it to Lance, who was set to become the next King, then while he was still free of the role, he could level up and gain enough strength to fend for himself. However, he would probably need to run a lot of dungeons.

"That does make sense. Alright, if we find another, it will be saved for Lance. Do you mind giving it to him to save the hassle it will bring if I give it to him?" I know I was pushing my troubles onto Adel, but I really did not want to give Lance the wrong idea.

"Yeah, I think it is best that I give it to him too." Adel readily agreed.

"We should go and explain things to everyone else and get the contracts done. I do not know when I will need to use my full dragon form just yet." I did not like the idea of having to do these contracts, but I wanted to be safe rather than sorry. A lot of things seemed to be set in motion, and I am not sure what the future will bring, so it was best not to add more trouble to myself.

I removed the barrier around us, and Adel and I walked over to everyone else who were standing around a big pile of items. It was all the items that spawned after the boss died. "Anything good?"

"Boss, we are not sure. They seem strong, but I am not sure who should get what." Steven replied. "Sophie said we should wait for you so that you can decide."

"For now, we will just leave them and distribute them after I finish speaking." I took a deep breath and let it out slowly before continuing. "As many of you have seen, I am not a normal demi human. In fact, I am a dragon." I decided to keep the demon part a secret for now since I do not know exactly how demons were looked upon in society. I only told Adel because of how close we are. "But because of this fact, I must ask everyone here to please sign a contract with me to never speak about this to anyone."

"Yes, Faith already has enough issues, and as the Princess of this kingdom, I am not allowing anyone to say no. The contract will be a blood seal contract. It means you will die if you ever reveal anything about Faith. I myself will also be signing this, so you are not the only ones. If any of you refuse to sign a contract, well…. I am sure losing your life in a dungeon is a common occurrence." While I did not agree with openly threatening everyone, I guess there was no other way around it.

"Princess Adel, I think you think too lightly of us. Each and every one of us owes Boss a life debt now. She really saved us at the expense of her own safety. We could have all died right then and there, but she risked revealing who she was and even risked her life for us. How could we say no?" Leo's words made everyone around him nod. I was glad to know that everyone was agreeing with him. I really did not wish anyone to come to harm just because I was trying to keep my identity a secret.

"Then even better. For those who do not know, a blood seal is actually quite simple."Adel looked over at me and grabbed my hand. "Faith, cut your thumb to draw blood and draw a magic circle with the runic inscription that states what you are forbidding them from doing, using your blood. and in the core of the equation add the following runes...."

I nodded and bit my finger before doing as I was told. It was actually a simple thing. I just wanted them not to tell anyone about my secrets. If I generalize it like this, it will cover every aspect. I finished writing the magic circle and then showed Adel: "Is this good?"

"Yes, this will work and covers a broad range, so yeah, this will work well. Okay, the rest is simple. Faith will infuse the bloody magic circle with her mana, and then everyone will then drip a drop of mana infused blood onto it. It will then bind you to the contract." I was quite surprised at how simple the process was. But now I understand why blood seal contracts and magic contracts differ. Magic contracts can be written by anyone, and as long as find someone strong enough, you can break the seal that enters your body. But the blood seal is different and is infused into a single magic circle drawn from the blood of the one owning the contract. It is basically a special magic spell that will send out a signal if someone tries to betray you. That signal would then kill the person instantly since they were linked to the seal directly by blood.

Chapter27 Forced Underlings

I watched as everyone walked up and dripped a drop of blood onto the blood seal. Each time it would glow slightly before dimming once more. Once everyone had finished, Adel continued: "Okay, now say activation word, and it will start the end of the binding process. But everyone should know that it is slightly painful."

I looked at Adel with a look that said couldn't you have said that earlier!? But I guess if she did, someone might have chickened out. I sighed and looked at everyone, and asked: "Are you ready?"

"Boss, do it! We can take it! This pain will be nothing compared to what you had to take when you saved us." Steven spoke up first. He was already gritting his teeth, waiting for the pain. It was so obvious how tense he was even before he felt anything making his expression kind of funny to the point that I almost laughed.

"Yes, Boss, Steven is right. We can take this." Even Hailey was saying the same thing. I closed my eyes and as I said: "Seal!"

"""""Ahhhhhhhhhhhh!"""""

I watched as everyone fell to the ground in pain. Even Adel was curled up on the ground, her brow full of sweat. Only Sally was still standing there, but she was barely holding on. Sophie and Sei were also in bad condition as well. But I think out of everyone, Grace was suffering the most, her whole body seemed to be drenched in sweat.

The magic circle on my hand, as soon as I said the activate word, had risen into the air and began spinning. It glowed brightly before shooting a beam of bloody light at everyone. It was only after the beam of bloody light hit them did I notice that their brows eased up, and their cries of pain had stopped. The magic circle then slowly lowered back down to my hand before merging into my skin and disappearing without a trace.

"Is it over?" I whispered as I looked at everyone.

"That was worse than I thought." I heard Adel mumble as she slowly and unsteadily crawled up from the ground. "To think the blood seal would be that painful. My father made it sound like it was not that bad."

"Wait, so you have never seen it performed before?" I asked, feeling slightly shocked. Just how willing was this girl to throw herself into these things!?

"I have not witnessed it. My father always made me leave the throne room when a blood seal was about to take place." Adel, oh Adel. Please realize that your father was just trying to keep you from seeing such a scene! I mean, seeing people curled up crying out in pain is not something a girl her age should be seeing in the first place. Just watching it from the side was painful!

"So this means we are now Boss's underlings?" Steven asked with a wide grin.

"Huh? No! You are not slaves!" I yelled out. Why did it seem like he wanted to become my slave!?

"But we are now bound by the seal, never to betray you in this lifetime! That means we are now your underlings! The Dragon squa… Ouch! Damnit, Amanda, why did you hit me!?" Steven yelled out while holding his head. Thank you, Amanda! He was saying embarrassing things just now!

"You are bothering Boss. We can decide on a name later on once Boss gets used to it." Wait, you too, Amanda!?

I hung my head. Why are people deciding things on their own without asking me first? "Not bad! You already have your own mini army." Adel came over and hugged my arm. I could only shake my head. I am wondering if this was something she had planned from the start or not. Because for them to suddenly start talking about this seems to be a premeditated event.

I sighed and sat down on the ground. They could do as they pleased. They all seemed happy. "Anyway, we need to make plans for the upcoming floors below. If there are weaker versions of the shaman goblin on the floors to come, we will end up having a harder time, unlike before."

"Boss, what if we made a two strike plan for them? If they use barriers like the boss just now, we can have you and Sally destroy the barriers while we take them out." Leo suggested.

I thought about it for a moment and nodded my head. "This might work only if they have much lower health. Our next boss is probably going to have many min bosses around it. If I remember correctly, it was called the Goblin Chief. After that is the big monstrosity that is protecting the core of this dungeon, it is called a Goblin Ancient and has the ability to speak. And well… It seems not all there in the head."

"Faith, will you use your full dragon form on these two bosses?" Sophie asked.

I nodded my head as I answered: "More than likely. My dragon form is much more powerful than my current self. Although, I am not sure how well I will be able to fight in it as I have never used it for fighting before. I only tested a few things out since I have been able to transform."

I hated to say it, but I really was not sure how good my fighting ability would be when fighting in my dragon form. I kind of wish I had more practice with it than having to just throw caution to the wind and use it. But if I can make use of it and overpower the bosses, then it should work out fine. At least, I hope.

"Either way, I am sure as long as we work together, we can overcome all odds." Sei spoke up while pumping her fists. She was the oldest here so she had been calm this entire time but now she looked more fired up than ever.

I shook my head and glanced at everyone. But as my eyes passed by everyone I noticed something wrong. "Grace are you okay!?"

Chapter28 Grace Under Fire Part 1

I ran to Grace's side. She was curled up like a caterpillar, holding her knees. Her entire body was soaked in sweat, and her skin seemed overly hot. Just touching her skin caused my hands to burn. "Grace! What's wrong!?"

"So hot…. So hot…." Grace mumbled out weakly. I turned and looked at Adel, who was staring at me in confusion. I have no idea what was going on, but she was fine seconds ago but now….

"The blood seal!" This is what came to mind. Grace was perfectly fine all the way until this point. But now, she seemed to be burning up from the inside out. I quickly turned to Sei, who was a black knight. If anything, she would know about this more than anyone. "Sei!"

Sei frowned slightly but still walked over and began looking at Grace. "Faith, use ice magic to cool her body. It seems that the blood seal has started Grace's bloodline awakening."

I did not need any more words as my eyes lit up, and I spoke the activation words. "Ice Coffin!" A spell I basically created on the spot using the ice spear runic equation. It is a simple spell that encases the target in ice instead of striking through them. But I made sure to leave a section of it open around her face so she could still breathe. After that was done, I looked at Sei for more answers.

"She needs to keep her body as cool as possible. The issue is that a blood seal transfers a small amount of your blood into the person's body. This blood then merges into their bloodstream and flows down to their heart. Once they go against the blood seal, the blood will expand and destroy their heart, effectively killing them. But there are times when the blood seal will have an effect on a person. Like in this case, Faith, your blood triggered something in Grace's blood, and I believe now she will awaken to her bloodline." Sei explained, but her expression was not good.

"What are you not telling me?" I asked. With how much pain grace was in, it seemed something was wrong.

"Your blood is in conflict with her bloodline. This is causing her body to heat up due to the battle that is going on inside her. If she is able to overcome this, she will definitely get stronger, but…." Sei stopped talking as if she did not wish to continue.

"But what!?" I kind of already know the answer, but I needed to be sure.

"If she is consumed, she will die." Sei finished while letting out a long breath. Sei looked pretty worried about this. "Right now, she is showing signs of losing the battle."

"Is there anything I can do that will help with this? If I am the cause, then I will do what I can to help her. I do not want Grace to die because of me." I was staying as calm as possible but inside, my mind was a mess. If she dies because of me, what will I do? Grace is one of my friends. She had stuck up for me even when she did not need to. I don't want her to be harmed in any way. But now…. But now, because of me, she is going through all this suffering.

"There is a way, but it may put a strain on your body. You will need to keep injecting her with mana to allow her to gain the strength needed in her blood to finish awakening and push your bloodline back for the time being. Once she fully awakens, she will be able to merge with your blood and completely finish the blood seal." Sei explained. I needed no more words to know what I needed to do.

I sat down behind Grace with my legs on each side over her ice covered body and opened a spot big enough for my hands in the ice block. As soon as I did, the part of her clothing that was exposed to the air suddenly burnt to a crisp, revealing her now red back. I took a deep breath and placed my hands on her bare skin, ignoring the burning sensation I was feeling, and began injecting my mana into her body.

If it was mana that she needed, I could give her as much as she wanted. I have plenty to spare, after all. I slowly streamed my mana into her body, lacing it with a bit of ice element. I was hoping the cooling sensation would be able to help relieve some of the pain she was going through. It was not much, just a trace but did not wish for Grace to suffer.

"Faith, you will need to do this until she fully awakens…. If you use up all your mana…." Sei had a worried look on her face. I understand that she is worried, but even if I did not have infinity mana, I would still do what I could to help.

"Sei, you don't need to worry about Faith," Adel spoke up for me. Which I was grateful for as I could not lose my concentration. It was not easy trying to spread my mana throughout Grace's body without harming her. "If anyone is able to last until grace awakens her bloodline, it is Faith."

"It's not that I do not believe you, but this could take days. No matter how many people we have, it would never be enough. We won't be able to ...." Sei was cut off by Adel.

"Sei! You have been serving my father since you were young and have done many missions that allowed you to see a lot of the world. But remember one thing. In this life, there are things that can not be explained. Faith is someone you just have to believe in, no matter how outrageous or impossible things may seem. I mean, have we, not all survived to this point down in this deep dungeon with powerful monsters that could easily kill any one of us? Faith has the power to deal with everything on her own, yet she has not once complained about how slow we were moving. Not to mention she has helped not only me but you as well grow stronger, has she not? With everything that she has shown, why are you second guessing her actions now?"

Chapter29 Grace Under Fire Part 2

"Grace, hold on! Please fight! Don't give up!" This was all I could say. I could not do anything else but keep injecting a steady flow of my mana into her body. I could only hope that Grace could make it through this. Otherwise, I will need to deep freeze her body until I figure out a way to help her.

As the hours passed, I stayed steady and firm as I continued injecting Grace with mana. No matter how tired I felt, I forced myself to stay awake, knowing that if I faltered even once, she might just die. Sophie, Sei, Adel, and Sally all stayed at my side, not leaving me once. Everyone else would keep checking in on me to make sure I was okay while scouting the surrounding area. They were afraid of any monsters appearing out of nowhere. Even with the barrier up, they wanted to keep watch just in case. It had been ingrained in their daily habits to check their surroundings, which made sense since we have been doing it for a while, day in and day out.

"Faith, it's been three days. Are you okay?" Sei asked in a worried tone. I could see she was worried about my well being. While my eyes were droopy due to lack of sleep, there was nothing else wrong with me. "I am fine. It's thanks to you that I can still eat and drink, so I am okay. Just tired is all."

Sei smiled softly at me as she put her hand on my head and rubbed it. "As long as you are feeling okay. If you need a break, let me know. I will take over. I may not look it, but I do have quite a bit of mana."

"Mmm… Thanks, Sei." Sei is like an older sister. She worries about me and is even willing to suffer along with me. Out of everyone, she is the only one who has stayed awake this entire time. While the others slept, she would talk with me quietly. That is not to say that the others did not try to stay up as well. Adel and Sophie made it a day and a half, while Sally made it two days. Only Sei has stayed up this entire time. I am not sure if she feels partly responsible for what has happened since she knew more than Adel about blood seals or what, but it did not matter, what happened still happened. No one knew that Grace had a bloodline in her that would clash with my own.

So no one can be blamed for this, really. All except for me, who wanted this contract in the first place. But even if I did not have anything to do with this, I would still help Grace no matter what to save a friend who I hold dear.

Two more days passed when Grace's temperature finally lowered. I quickly removed the ice that was encasing her body, causing her to fall back into my embrace. Her eyes were closed, but she seemed to be sleeping peacefully. Sei walked over and checked her pulse, and let out a sigh of relief. "She will be fine. Whether or not her bloodline was awakened or not is another story. We won't know until she wakes up. So for now, you sh…."

I didn't get to hear the rest of Sei's words before I passed out….

"Hmmm?" I looked around to find myself in an unfamiliar bedroom. "This place is?"

"Your Majesty, are you awake?" A voice rang out at my side. I turned to see Grace standing there. "Grace?"

"Is there something this humble servant can do for you?" Grace asked with a smile. But I was very confused. Why was she acting this way? I, for one, know I am not the kind of person to go and enslave my friends. So why was she acting in such a manner? "Grace, why are you calling yourself a servant?"

"If I am not a servant, then what am I? Your Majesty, are you not awake yet? What will the citizens think if they see their Queen half asleep and mumbling crazy things?" Grace sighed as if she was exhausted from my actions. But I was now even more confused because she was calling me Queen and saying something about citizens. But now that I am taking a good look at her, while she is definitely the Grace that I know appearance wise, just about five years or so older, she also has two sets of horns and a small white halo on her head.

I looked across the room and saw my reflection in the large mirror that covered a good chunk of the wall. I was kind of shocked to see that I looked much older. Even my proportions had grown, which kind of made me happy. I have been worried quite a bit about the size of a certain area on my chest. Although this was definitely a dream, and this could just be me imagining the perfect me, I had to say I was quite cute.

"Your Majesty?" Grace called out to me once more. I still did not understand why I was dreaming about being some kind of Queen, but, well, I will just play along for the time being.

"Sorry, I was still half asleep." I slowly crawled out of the big comfy bed and stood up. I went to stretch only to find myself suddenly standing there naked and Grace holding the nightgown and underwear I was wearing in her hands. I blushed and quickly jumped back onto the bed and wrapped myself in the blankets. "Wha!? What are you doing!?"

"What else would I be doing but changing you, Your Majesty? Why are you acting like this is two hundred years ago? Your Majesty, you must really be asleep still." Grace chuckled as she placed some clothes on the bed. And then walked over to me and pulled on the blankets, ripping them right off of me. "Now, please allow me to do my job!"

And within a matter of minutes, I was wearing a white dress with a red cloak with a fur collar wrapped around my shoulders. Grace then pulled me to the mirror and began brushing my hair, getting all the bed headedness out of it. Within thirty minutes, I was completely redone, and to be honest, I have no idea who the person is in the mirror staring back at me.

Chapter30 Another Strange Dream

After having my makeup and hair done, Grace placed a beautiful silver crown on my head. It was not overly extravagant, but it was still very pretty. "Grace, you said two hundred years just now. What year is it exactly?"

"Your Majesty, are you okay? You have been acting weird all morning…." Grace gave me a worried look causing me to sigh. I mean, what can I say? Right now, everything felt too real to be a dream, but it still felt like a dream. It made me wonder if this was a secret wish I had deep in the deepest parts of my heart. Did I wish to become a ruler of some kind?

At Grace's question, I could only let out a dry laugh and scratch the back of my head: "Maybe I am getting old and forgot?"

Grace shook her head as she said: "Your Majesty, who are you kidding? You have infinite mana. The only ones getting old are those who are not connected to you, which reminds me. You have a meeting with the Council Of Elders today."

"The Council Of Elders?" I was even more confused than I was before. I knew nothing of what was going on, but now I had to meet a council of some kind. I sighed and looked out the window of the balcony. Only then did my eyes grow wide in surprise. Tall skyscrapers, flying carriages, and floating shops filled the sky. A large dome barrier covered the entire city that seemed to span for many, many miles.

"What!?" I ran to the window and looked outside. The city was so futuristic looking that I was completely surprised. It was nothing like the world I have lived in the past twelve years but more of a mix of Earth and this world's technology.

"What are you so surprised about? You built this city from the ground up after the great war. Your Majesty, please have breakfast. You have a full schedule today!" I turned to see Grace looking at me with a bit of helplessness. I could only nod as I seemed to be causing her to have a hard time. I followed her out of the room and out into a red carpeted hallway.

While the hall had many things that looked expensive, it did not seem overly decorated. Things were kept very simple. Pretty much how I would go about it if I were to decorate things. On the wall were many pictures, some people I recognized while others I did not. It made me wonder just who these other people were.

When I arrived in what Grace called the dining hall, I was met with a small table with some already prepared food set out for me. It was nothing too fancy. It was basically something Annie would make for me every morning. Simple yet nutritious. It made me wonder what had happened to Annie. But when I thought that this seemed to be two hundred years in the future, I can only guess that she had long passed away.

But seeing only one plate of food made me realize something. "Grace, are you not going to eat with me?"

"Your Majesty, we go through this every morning. Please realize you are no longer a normal person. You are the ruler of the Cyrilia Empire. If you do not act as you should for a person of your position, then what will everyone else think?" Grace scolded once more. I could only sigh as I ate my food. I had to say it was quite tasty. But as I ate, I looked up at Grace, who stood at the side and waited patiently.

"Umm… does anyone else live here?" I asked while pursing my lips. I mean, two hundred years in the future, I kinda wanted to know how I turned out.

"Your Majesty, I will cancel the first part of your schedule today so you can see a doctor. It is not good for you to be so forgetful. You have rejected every advance from every suitor since you were young, so why would anyone but servants be living here?" Grace's reply made me purse my lips. Sorry for not knowing about the past two hundred years when I have yet to live that long! But Did I really go two hundred years without falling in love once?

While I know I always say that this is the way to go, I was kind of surprised. But I guess when your only suitors are your best friend and people you find to be idiots, I guess this is also possible. But in a way, I still feel depressed. Did no one find me attractive enough to try to push ahead and try to win my heart? Was I really that out of everyone's line of sight when it came to love?

Sighing, I put down the fruit drink in front of me and stood up. But as I did, the world around me began to spin as things grew dark. I heard Grace yelling out to me, but soon my eyes slowly opened to see the familiar sight of the dungeon I had been in for a few weeks. "What a strange drea..."

In front of my eyes was a familiar figure but, this time, much younger. This was the Grace I remember but on her head was a set of horns and a white halo. I was actually second guessing myself as I reached out and grabbed one of the horns. "Its realm….. But how!?"

"Master…." Grace knelt down and suddenly bowed her head to the ground, causing not only me but everyone else around me to stare at Grace in surprise. I looked at Sei, the only one I knew that might understand what was going on, but she only shook her head and shrugged her shoulders. She did not seem to understand what was going on either.

"Umm, Grace, why are you calling me Master?" I asked in confusion.

"Because you are my Master, why else would I call you Master?" Grace's head tilted to the side as she stared at me with a look that said: "Isn't it obvious?" But I really had no idea what was going on!

Chapter31 Angelic Race

I immediately looked at everyone else because I really had no idea what was going on. Yes, I know I just dreamt about Grace being my maid, but this and that are two different things. Not to mention I really did not wish for my friends to be my servants! "Can someone tell me what is going on!?"

"We don't know either. You have been asleep only for a few hours, but... An hour after you fell asleep, Grace suddenly sat up, and out of thin air, both the horns and halo appeared on her head. She has been sitting in front of you ever since. This is actually the first time she has spoken since she woke up. She only sat there by your side, ignoring everyone else." Adel explained. I could tell she was worried. Everyone was. This was to be expected with how Grace was acting.

I held my head and looked at Grace. "Grace, do you remember anything before you woke up?"

"Hmmmm? Of course." Grace answered with no hesitation.

"Then why are you calling me Master all of a sudden? You never called me this before." I asked. I just hope she won't give me the same answer again.

"Hmmm…. I think it is because my blood is linked to yours?" Grace answered. I could tell she herself was also not sure.

"Faith, if I may, and this is just a hypothesis, but I think the reason for her bodily changes is because your blood was more dominant. I think her bloodline has something to do with the ancient Angelic race. From what I read, they were a race of servants who served an ancient unknown race. But this race also had horns.

"This is all just a thought, but I believe that your blood has traces of this race, and that is why she has become subservient. Your blood dominated over her blood during the awakening, and this is why things have come down to this. This would also explain Grace's ability to use high heal and has such powerful light magic. The Angelic race was a race of people who were all master light element users." Sei explained, causing me to frown. If this was the case wouldn't that mean Grace was forced to become my servant due to my blood?

"Is there a way to break such a bond?" I asked. But as soon as those words left my mouth, I regretted it.

"Master! You do not want me anymore!?" Grace's eyes became filled with tears as she once more pressed her head against the ground. "If Master thinks I am of no use, then this servant will extinguish this useless life."

"Grace, wait!" Not only did I yell out, but so did many of the others. Grace was already wielding a dagger she pulled out of god knows where and was ready to gut herself. Luckily she stopped at my command.

"Ma-Master?" Grace looked up at me with tears rolling down her cheeks, causing me to let out a long sigh.

I forced a smile as I said: "Who said you were useless? I was just asking a question. I do not want to throw you away or anything close to it."

"Master!" Grace cried out as she lunged at me, hugging me. I could only pat her back. I was feeling exhausted. For now, I will just leave things as they are. When we leave this dungeon, I will go to the library first thing and try to research how to break this stupid servant thing. But if that dream was actually real, then…. I sighed once more, just thinking about it.

"Faith…" Adel walked over, tears were brimming in her eyes. I watched as she knelt down next to me and lowered her head. "I'm sorry…. If I knew any of this, I would not have suggested the ...."

I reached out and placed my hand on her head. "It's not your fault. I was the one who wanted a contract to keep my secrets safe. Everyone here is a comrade, and we fought many battles together, living through life and death situations, but I still…."

"Boss…." Steve suddenly spoke up. "I may not be able to speak for everyone, but I can say this for sure, whether you are a dragon, a human, or even a monster, I, for one, do not regret signing the blood seal contract as it means we are now connected even more than before. It means that I have become part of a larger family of people. With the way you have protected us and helped us during this time so far, risking it all to allow us to escape this place, I have no issues with signing the blood contract even if I were to end up like Grace."

"I agree!" Leo shouted after. "You have helped us so much that even our own prowess that was once rather weak has jumped leaps and bonds. You also used your own body to shield us. If you are not someone who is worthy of following, then I do not know who is."

Hailey also stepped forward as she said: "Faith, you have allowed me, who was useless altogether with no actual ability to join the academy, to have an actual chance to do so. The way I see it is as if you have given me a new lease on life."

This was followed by everyone else. Although it was not the best way to cheer me up, it did help a bit. "Well, if anyone feels like they are growing horns and halos, let me know…."

"Hehe…." I heard laughter coming from my stomach and shook my head. Was this girl not just crying before? I shook my head and looked at everyone. "While things took a strange turn, how has it been? Did any monsters show up while I was asleep?"

"No, we kept watch, and not a single monster has appeared here," Adel answered.

"Alright, then let's get the drops situated. Front line tanks and healers will get the first pick, excluding me. I do not need any armor." I wanted the front line to be properly equipped before we continued. As well as anything that might help Grace in boosting her healing.

"That is what we thought as well, but we do not know what is what…."

Chapter32 Items

I pondered for a moment before going to get up. Luckily Grace let go of me and sat up with a face full of smiles as I moved. But as I walked over to the pile of items, I noticed she stayed three steps behind me with her hands folded in front of her. It was a very strange feeling. Even Annie never acted like this, and she was always stiff about her job. But I did not dare say anything about her actions in case she tried to take her own life again.

I looked at the first item, which was a leather chest piece: "Appraisal."

[Shaman's Chest Guard]

[Rarity]: Rare

[Defense]: 200

[Vitality]: 50

Seeing the information, I suddenly felt that this whole dungeon was messing with me! I mean, really? Why do the items have stats!?

[Shaman's Belt]

[Rarity]: Rare

[Defense]: 40

[Intelligence]: 20

Each one had some form of defense and bonus stats to it. And this was just the armor that was laid out. There was a huge axe lying in the pile as well!

[Shaman's Protective Axe]

[Rarity]: Rare

[Attack Power]: 600

[Strength]: 60

[Vitality]: 35

I rubbed my head, seeing these items. But in a way, this was also good as well. Since only Adel and I had systems at this time, no one had any way of really powering themselves up except for self buffs, so this would help our progress a lot. With this thought in mind, I began giving out the items to those I thought would benefit from them the most at this time. As for the Axe…. It took four people to carry it, and I seemed to be the only one able to lift it with one hand. So it was decided that I would take it. To be honest, I am not sure how helpful this will be, but I guess there is nothing stopping me from using a different weapon. It's not like my swordsmanship is anything decent. And I could swing the axe just as well as my sword.

I did not plan to take anything, but there was no reason to waste something that would give me bonuses. My sword was basically a trash item compared to this axe. But there was one thing that was off about this axe….. It was almost half as tall as I am!

Luckily with it slanted to the side, it will stay just above the ground, allowing me to walk around normally. The other thing that kind of amazed me was that the items, no matter how big they were, instantly fitted to the person wearing them, even if it was too small or too big.

"Alright, everyone, rest up. We will have a hard time ahead of us." I also needed to rest. I have not slept for many days besides the few hours I got after Grace was safe. I did not wait for anyone to answer as my eyes began to grow heavy. I walked over to the side of the boss room and leaned up against the wall. As soon as I closed my eyes, I could feel my consciousness slipping away.

"What are you doing!? Let her sleep on my lap!" Adel's voice woke me up as I felt my head being pulled in some direction.

"Master only needs her servant, me, to allow her to rest properly. Unnecessary and unrelated people can just go die." Grace, you just told the princess of the kingdom to go die…. While I did wish to say something, I felt my head being tugged in another direction once more.

I am starting to think these two are doing it on purpose. Their little spat continued for a good couple of minutes before I finally became too annoyed: "Can you both cut it out!?"

"Ah! Master, I am sorry!" Grace cried out while suddenly kneeling to the ground once more. Adel, on the other hand, only snorted and looked the other way.

"Grace, please stop bowing at everything little thing. And Adel, I keep telling you not to fight with Grace! You two get along just fine but fight over the weirdest things! You both almost ripped my head off just now!" My neck was really sore! I don't understand why they fight so much. And every time they do fight, it has something to do with me, which makes it even more confusing.

"But she…" Adel wanted to argue, but I cut her off and shook my finger at her. "No means no!"

"I'm not a pet!" Adel yelled out while pouting.

I chuckled and reached out to scratch her chin, causing Adel to swat my hand away and turn away from me. When she acted like this, she was quite cute. "Anyway, how long have I been asleep?"

"A full day. But that is to be expected with how many days you have been awake." Sei answered as she handed me a drink.

"How is everyone else's condition?" As long as everyone else was fine, we could begin diving deeper into the dungeon and hopefully finish this up quickly. Although I know it will not be that easy, I can still hope for the best.

"Everyone is in top shape and can move out at any time," Sophie answered.

"Then let's gather." I stood up and stretched my arms. I then picked the axe up and strapped it to my back.

When everyone was gathered, I stood in front of them and began giving a bit of a moral speech. "We are about to dive deeper. The road ahead may be harder than the last, but I promise to do my best to protect you all. I can not say for sure if we will all live to reach and defeat the last boss, we may even get wiped out as soon as we climb down those stairs. But I do want you all to do your best to stay alive. If you get hurt, announce it. Let everyone know so we can try to cover for you. We are in this together and we will do our best to survive and return together."

Chapter33 Diving Once Again

Looking down the long set of stairs in front of me makes me kind of nervous about what to expect after such a hard boss encounter. With my new and amazing axe in hand, I slowly climbed down the stairs with everyone else following behind me.

"Ah!" Sophie suddenly screamed out causing me and everyone else to turn around. What I saw made me frown.

"Is everyone here?" I called out to do a head check.

"Yeah, Boss, everyone is here. It seemed to wait for all of us to enter the stairs before sealing us off." Steven answered.

The entrance to the boss room was sealed off with the same exact barrier as the one in the boss room on the first floor. This meant only one thing. "Looks like this will happen each time we kill a boss. But this is also good. We do not need to worry about our backs being attacked at this moment. Just keep an eye out."

With that said, I turned and continued down the stairs. The stairs were not just a straight path. They spiraled down for quite a while before finally coming to a stop in front of the entrance of another long dark tunnel. "Grace, send lights down the tunnel".

"Yes, Master!" Grace shouted happily. Seconds later, ten balls of light shot down the tunnel, each coming to a stop at a certain point in the tunnel. To be honest, this was a huge improvement from before. It seemed Grace's awakening helped her gain more control over her magic. Even the lights were brighter than before.

"Okay, same formation as always. But be extra careful with this tight tunnel." I shouted before gripping my axe and stepping into the tunnel. The floor here was a bit more uneven and slippery. Like the floor was covered in moss. We had to move much slower in order to keep our footing.

As we made our way down the tunnel keeping our eyes peeled for anything out of the ordinary. But the walls, while rocky, there were no deep crevices that I could see, and with how bright it was, there were no hidden places either. This made traveling down them less nerve-racking.

When we finally came to the end, Grace once more sent out an array of balls of lights that filled the large room, lighting every inch of it. What was revealed was a nest of hobgoblins and three goblin shamans, which made all of us grow silent. Strangely though was that they did not turn towards us or even seem to care about the new light that was filling the room.

"Boss, how should we do this? They are pretty clustered together." Leo asked as he looked into the room.

"How else but the same way we always do things. We already know the shaman's abilities, so we can test the waters a bit. But this time we will be doing it in this hall. I will set up a barrier that will cover the outside of the door and the wall around it. From the looks of it, there are around twenty hobgoblins and three shamans. I will pull and then tunnel them in one at a time. This will also give our tight quarters combat a bit of practice as well." It was actually not a bad idea to use this as practice for when we have no choice but to be elbow to elbow.

My eyes lit up as I waved my hand, causing a barrier to form at the entrance of the tunnel. "Alright, I will now go pull, be ready!"

"Yes!" Everyone answered at the same time. I chuckled and passed through the barrier. Gripping my axe with one hand, I raised the other and pointed a finger at the hobgoblins. I then fired off a small fireball at the closest hobgoblin.

"Graaaaahhh!!!" The goblin yelled out and looked around. As soon as it saw me, it cried out once more, causing the other goblins to turn and look at me before the whole mass of green flesh began moving towards me. I backpedaled through the barrier and waited on the other side for our prey to make its way over. "Remember no large scale attacks and only attack if it is possible. You do not want to hurt your teammates by accident."

The first hobgoblin made its way into the barrier, and on my signal, attacks began to rain down on it. It died so fast that I was quite surprised at the amount of damage being outputted. "Ummm…" I stared at the now hobgoblin corpse that took less than a minute to kill in awe. "Alright, I will let three in. Do the same as before."

Once again, the damage output was insane. Just a few items, and everyone was doing much more damage. I was quite happy to see this. In a matter of minutes, we cleared out all twenty hobgoblins and began moving on to the shamans. The only difference was that the shamans would not move through the barrier. They were much smarter than hobgoblins. This meant we had to fight in a more open manner.

"Boss, what will we do now?" Amanda asked as I stood there and looked at the three shaman goblins that were standing outside the barrier looking back at us. I couldn't help but think that they were just waiting for us to drop the barrier so they could bombard us with spells.

"Sally, Sophie!" I called out. With the way things were and with how easily we are doing damage now, I do believe we will not need as many barriers as we fight. I think if we continue as we are and can get a better understanding of our skills we will be able to move forward much faster. This is why I think I will teach range magic users some area of effect spells to quicken our progress through the dungeon.

""Yes!"" Both immediately came to my side. I am sure they already know what I have planned. "Sophie you are on the right, Sally on the left. I will take the middle. Sei, you are on barriers. Only use it if there is magic flying towards the back line. Everyone else will start with Sally's target! Let's do this!"

"""""""""""""Yeah!!!!"""""""""""""

Chapter34 Mimic

I decided not to lower the barrier but instead just had everyone charge right through it since it did not prevent people from leaving, just from entering. I only decided to do it this way so that the shamans would have as much time to react. And as soon as we exited, the shamans began casting spells, but they were much slower than the boss, which made me relieved. All three of us, Sally, myself, and Sophie, all reached our targets before they could finish casting their spells and attacked them. Our attacks landed on their barriers, but they shattered upon impact, allowing our attacks to follow through. And in the same instant that it all started, it was over.

"Uhhh…. Is it just me, or did we just one shot them?" I turned and looked at Sally and then at Sophie. Each one of us had instantly killed our targets.

"They were hundreds of times weaker than the boss." Sally replied with a bit of disappointment in her voice.

"Well, so much for getting all hyped up!" Steven yelled out before laughing. This was followed by everyone else bursting out into laughter as well.

After a few minutes, we calmed down when Rick suddenly yelled out: "Boss! Two chests!"

I turned and looked in the direction Rick was pointing and sure enough, in the middle of the room where the small goblin camp was were two chests. I pursed my lips as I signaled for everyone to stay put as I walked towards the chest. "Appraisal!"

[Bronze Chest]

[A Dungeon chest that will contain random bronze ranked items]

I then casted appraisal on the second chest as well...

[Elite Mimic]

[Level]: 90

[HP]: 500000/500000

[MP]: 100000/100000

Seeing the name of the second chest, I couldn't help but frown. "Mimic…." I began digging through my memories to see if I remember anything that had to do with mimics, and the only info I could come up with was that they are monsters that can pretend to be other things. Such as treasure chests, walls, and even humans or other beings for that matter. They lure people in and then eat them using their large tongue or tentacles and huge mouth with large sharp teeth to pull them in

I quickly backed away and returned to everyone else. "One is a treasure chest while the other is a new monster called a mimic, and it has half the health as the previous boss."

"Are we going to fight it? If it is a treasure chest, it shouldn't be able to walk, right?" Adel asked.

"We don't know for sure. Mimics can turn into anything, that includes you or I. If we try to pass, it might use its ability to pretend to be one of us. Then we will all be in danger." I replied. We had no choice but to fight the mimic. I couldn't risk everyone's lives over such things.

"Then how do we fight it?" This time it was Sei who asked the question.

"I will go in solo to start. I have the biggest chance to survive. Wait one minute, then ranged can begin attacking it afterward. All melee will sit this out for the time being and just watch how I fight it. " I couldn't think of any other plans, and I had the highest health and defense, so it was better that I tried tanking it while the others watched and learned. Although I guess I would be learning how to fight it as well but even so, I was still the best person for the job.

I moved forward and edged my way near the mimic. I did not dare just casually throw a magic spell at it in case it did something unexpected like some mass area of effect spell that could wipe us all out. I would prefer for it to focus on me. I already had mana shield layered on my body, so it was not as visible.

Sweat trickled down my cheek as I got closer and closer. My eyes never left the mimic for even a second. But if my memories are right, in this one novel I read, mimics waited until adventurers actually began to open them before springing its trap. If this is the case, it might be a simple minded monster.

I finally stood right in front of the mimic and slowly raised my ax. I was not stupid enough to go and try to open it. I would rather hopefully deal a fatal blow from the start. I took a deep breath before letting both my arms transform into dragon arms, keeping them much smaller and slender so I could swing the axe easier and brought it down like a hammer of justice!

*Boom!*

"Chreeeekaaaa!"

The mimic cried out in pain, or at least I think this was it crying out in pain. Revealing its big mouth and rows of razor sharp teeth. I quickly jumped back and cast appraisal once more to check its health.

[Elite Mimic]

[Level]: 90

[HP]: 26700/500000

[MP]: 100000/100000

Seeing how much damage I had just dealt, shocked me. But I had no time to think as the mimic shot out many tentacles out of its mouth right at me! I quickly dodged them and chopped the ones that were about to capture me. But I only had to do this for a few seconds before a rain of attack landed on the mimic, instantly finishing it off. "That was much easier than I thought, but that would definitely be more dangerous to others as I had the chance to back away. If I was close, I could have easily been run through by those tentacles."

The mimic's tentacles looked quite sharp and were very fast. With mana shield I may have been easily able to block them, but there is no telling at this point. I could feel something different about those tentacles. And to be honest, I do not wish to test my mana shield against them any time soon. I would be crazy to do so.

I walked over to the mimic laying slipped over on the ground, and poked it with my axe a few times even though I knew it was already dead. I then went to the bronze chest and popped it open. Inside I saw many pieces of armor and a few weapons and also a familiar stone. I picked it up and used appraisal on it.

[System Stone]

[Consumable]

[Gives one person a system.]

[Systems allow one to gain new skills by using skill points. Allows one to gain status points upon leveling up and unlocks hidden potential.]

Chapter35 Explaining The System Part 1

Seeing the system stone, I couldn't help but be a little surprised that such a thing was found in a treasure chest. I figured it would only appear as a boss drop like the first one. But this was also okay because now I could give it to Adel to give to Lance, and hopefully, this would benefit the kingdom that had been so good to me. I put the stone aside and grabbed the other items. There were more pieces of armor, all of which gave stats like vitality, strength, and intelligence. I quickly organized them by type and called for Steven "Steven!"

"Yes, Boss!?" Steven ran over to me. I turned and pointed to the items I had organized. "Everyone who did not get something last time should get something this time. Do it based on what their specialty is. The pile to the left is for melee fighters, while the pile on the right is for casters. These two pieces here should be good for Tom." I had made sure to keep the two agility items separate from the rest because if things were going according to the novels I read, then agility was best for bow users.

Right now, I do not care about myself as much as I do for everyone else. Just the few items that were handed out earlier have boosted everyone's combat ability. So the more damage they can do, the better. As Steven was passing out items, I pulled Adel to the side once more and shoved the system stone into her hands. "For your brother."

Adel looked at the small stone and then back at me before pushing the stone back into my hands. "Right now, it is more important to give it to those you trust. But if I may make a suggestion, I think Sally should get the next one. She is normally on the main front line with you."

Adel's words did come as a surprise. I did not expect her to tell me to give it to Sally. But thinking about it, Sally was indeed on the front line the most due to her combat abilities and high natural defense. Not to mention she was now under a double contract with me. The only other people I could actually trust fully would be Sei, Grace, and Sophie. With this in mind, I nodded my head and said: "After this, it will be Sophie and Sei. If we can find more system stones than that, the next one will be Grace, who is our main healer, then Lance. Steven and then Leo…."

I was trying to make sure those close to me all had a system so they could grow faster. But I had to prioritize who got what. Lance was getting a system stone before Steven only because I do not know how many I will be able to find while in this dungeon. If I can get even one more, I would be happy.

The thing about this place is that we do not know much about dungeons yet or how they work. But I do wonder why no one has mentioned system stones yet since I am sure many have dived into some dungeons here and there. Unless the leaders of each country are keeping things under wraps, if that was the case, then it would make sense.

"Sally, come here for a moment," I called Sally over.

"Young Miss?" Sally came to my side. And like a magnet, as if she would lose her position, Grace suddenly appeared right behind me, standing there about five feet away with her arms folded in front of her. I chuckled and motioned for her to come closer. But after giving it some thought, I also called over Sei and Sophie.

With a wave of my hand, I created a small barrier to isolate us and had everyone sit with Sally sitting next to me. I am sure the others are wondering what is going on, but I do plan to explain things soon. "Faith, why all the secrecy?" Sei asked.

"It's this here." I held out the stone that glimmered in the light of the room. "This here is called a system stone. And it allows one to grow stronger by leveling up by killing monsters. At each level up, you will gain five status points which you can use to boost your strength more. I am explaining this to you now, so you understand why I am so quick to take these stones. It has nothing to do with me liking shiny things or anything like that…. "

Okay, so I might be very unconvincing on the last part there, but so what! I am a dragon, after all! Although everyone did give me weird stares. I have once…. A few times, jumped at a few shiny objects in the presence of everyone here.

"Anyway…." I scratched my nose as I continued: "Adel has already gotten her system. And as you can see, she is doing perfectly fine and even raised her stats quite a bit. This stone I plan to give to Sally as she is one of the main tanks. If we find more, I plan to give them out in this order. Sophie, Sei, then Grace. If we get more than three, I will be keeping one for Lance and then handing them out to the others."

"Wait! Faith, what do you mean by system?" Sei asked in confusion. She seemed to be having a hard time taking in what I was saying. Although it did not help that I was not really explaining it well. It was just that the whole thing was hard to explain without having a visual way of showing them. Or maybe I do have a way to show them?

"Ummm… Well…. Adel, can you open your menu?" Adel nodded at my request, and a blue holographic screen appeared in front of her. This was one thing that was different from my system and the one you get from the system stone. Mine was invisible to everyone else. But Adel's, on the other hand, was clearly visible to me at least.

"What!?" Sei cried out as she looked at the blue holographic screen in front of Adel.

"Sei, I will explain how it all works after Sally gets hers. It will be easier to explain that way."

Chapter36 Explaining The System Part 2

I watched as Sally took the stone, and just as it did for Adel, a small window appeared before her. "Do I just hit yes?" Sally asked.

"Yes," I replied while nodding. Seconds later, Sally had a window just like Adel's floating in front of her. Her brow furrowed as she looked at it. I guess she was trying to understand it all. "Alright, first thing is first. Sally, do you use any large scale magic attacks or anything that would require you to need a boost to magic?"

This was important while I believe she would not need much other than strength, vitality, and a mix of agility and mind. I do not know exactly where she gets all her power from. For all I know, she could be using some kind of special body enhancing spell that requires a decent amount of mana. While this is highly doubtful, I do not know for sure.

"No. I am a bit different from other rabbitkin. I have a very strong physic and high strength. My race is normally weak and fluffy." Sally replied honestly.

"How many status points do you have then?"

"Ummm, 1230 in total." I nodded my head at her answer. I had expected her to have many more points as Sally seemed to have gotten out more than others. I bet Sei has even more.

"Alright, then do 500 vitality which is your health, and 500 strength. Then 115 in both agility to boost your speed and 115 in mind to increase your mana pool. Then every level up, stick two points in vitality and strength while alternating your last point between mind and agility." I think this would be a decent allocation as it would boost her all around. And just like I told Adel that alternating points was definitely needed.

Sally did as I told her, but she paused before putting points into mind. "Faith, why mind?"

"Well, you know how everyone is basically born with a set amount of mana?" I asked while looking at everyone. When I saw them all nod to my words, I continued: "Well, by adding points into mind, you are raising your limit, which means you are extending your life."

"Wait, if that is true, then if we keep leveling up and keep adding points to mind, we can effectively live for hundreds if not thousands of years?" Sei asked.

"As far as I know, that should be the case. I can not say for sure. But it would not be wise to just put all your points into mind either. You would want to spread things out into main and sub main. Which you saw me do just now. Sub main are just added stats that will boost other aspects of your body. While the two main ones are based on your fighting style. Like Adel is intelligence and mind for main and then vitality and agility sub main. Sei would be more strength, vitality main and intelligence, and mind sub main because you are a magic knight. Grace would be the same as Adel. And I am well a bit different from you all." I explained.

"Wait, You have a system too?" Sei asked. Which I kinda figured she would. After all, we have only run into two of these stones. Although the first was snatched up by me without many paying attention.

I sighed and decided to come clean with everyone. "I have had a system since I was born. You can say I am an anomaly."

"Well, you have been strange since I have met you." Sei teased, causing me to stick my tongue out at her.

"Well, between my current abilities and everything else, you can say it is all thanks to my system." I won't go into details, but this should at least give them an understanding of how powerful a system can be.

"Then I can not wait to get mine." Sei's voice was filled with excitement. She then nudged Sophie and said: "Hurry up and get yours already so I can have my turn."

I chuckled and shook my head. "Let's just hope we can find more. Any more questions?"

"I do not think I understand things enough to really ask more questions." Sei replied.

"Does the system have other capabilities besides raising these stats?" Sophie asked.

"I am not sure yet. Adel has been playing around with it, but we still have not really had a chance to dive deep into it." I answered before standing up and stretching. I then looked at Grace, who was still doing Grace things, and asked: "What about you?"

"As long as I am by Master's side, nothing else matters." Grace replied. I was still not used to this whole master servant thing.

"After Sei, you are next. I just want those close to me to get the system first. I might sound selfish, but if this world is really going to change, I want all of you to have an advantage." I may be being selfish, but I can't help but want to protect those who are closest to me. I also plan to hopefully get systems for my family as well. Even if I can't or say they refuse, I will protect them with everything I have.

Grace smiled and bowed her head. "Then I am grateful for Master's concern."

"Alright. We have been sitting here long enough. Let's continue!" This little meeting had lasted a lot longer than I had expected. Although I am nervous about the future, I am kind of happy that I can allow those close to me to extend their lifespan, even if it is only by a few years or so. If they can get a few hundred even, then I would be happy. What will come, I do not know, but I do know for sure that whatever it is, I will do my best to be ready. If the things in my dreams are or will come true one day. I will need to stay on guard for any signs of what is to come.

I twirled the axe in my hand and let my lips curled up as I looked at the group of people in front of me waiting for me. "Let's finish this!"

"Yeah!!!!"

Chapter37 Explaining The System Part 3

We once again began our dive, floor after floor, killing goblins and even more mimics. It seemed that the floors were made for gathering the gear needed for the bosses because we had found many items from weapons to armor and, of course, more system stones. Right now, Sophie, Sei, and Grace all have their systems as well. Adel had one put away for Lance, and I still have three more on hand.

This was why I was currently standing in front of everyone after just clearing a monster nest. "I am sure most of you have probably wondered why I keep having small meetings with Adel and the others. The reason is this."

I held up the stone in my hand. "This here is called a system stone. It enables a person to gain a system and allows them to grow stronger. This system stone is what Adel, Sophie, Sally, Sei, and Grace have already used. I am sure you have seen the changes in their abilities. Currently, I only have three more on hand, but they seem to drop quite frequently since we have been making our way to the next boss room. I will be handing them out to those I feel will benefit from them the most first."

"Boss, what exactly are system stones?" Steven asked.

"They are a means of growing more powerful as you level up. You may have noticed it already, but even without the system, you have also been growing stronger. This is because this dungeon is affecting your growth. Hailey, you have begun casting magic that you would never have been able to cast before this. This is all because of how this dungeon seems to work. It is to allow people to grow stronger through life and death trials." While I did not know if this was true or not, this was the conclusion I have come to for now.

"The system has five stats that are the makeup of your body. Strength for power, vitality which will determine how long you can survive for, intelligence for how strong your magic is, mind will raise your max mana capacity allowing you to live longer lives and finally, agility for speed and reflexes.

"All of these can be raised with each level you gain. Each level gives five status points to allow you to distribute them how you see fit. My suggestion is to split your points up into two sets.

"Your main stats and your sub stats. Sub stats, unless you are a caster, who should always have mind in their main stat. If you have questions and wonder what you should concentrate on for stats, let me know, and I will try to help you. Oh, one final note. When you get a system, all your status points for all your levels you have gained without it will be there for you to spend as well. Think of it as a nice reward for all your efforts." I explained. I actually think I am getting better at this. But now, it was time to hand out the stones.

"Steven, Leo, Hailey. You three will get the last of the system stones I have. Please do not think I am playing favorites either when I hand out the stones. I am doing this based on two factors. Team role and how much they really need it. Steven and Leo are in main roles of the team, while Hailey is the one in most need of a system. I want everyone to finally acquire one. So please just be patient." I did not want them to think I was being biased when giving out stones. While I was at first, but at the same time, everyone who got one so far is in major roles of the team or in need of the stones.

"Boss, don't think so lowly of us. I could care less if I am last as long as we can all become stronger. You said we are leveling up anyways as we progress without the system, right? Then that is just as well. This means we can save up more points and spend them all at once when we finally get a system." Amanda said with a big smile. "So let me go last! I want to see just how much I can save up."

I looked at Amanda and chuckled. "Then I will make you last." She grinned at me and pushed Hailey to the front. I then proceeded to hand out the three stones.

After everything was set, we continued to clear the floors, and I have to say that once Steven got to spend his points, he was now instantly killing hobgoblins and shamans. What was once a hard battle for him was now easy as can be. Slowly but surely, we gained more stones, and they got passed out. Brad, Tom, Blake, Rick, and Amanda all now had systems as well.

What surprised me was that the stones had now started to drop from monsters as well as other items as well. We began to get things like potions, which I used appraisal on and was able to find out their effects. From healing to mana recovery and even stamina. Antidotes and timed buffs. Many different kinds of potions. Everyone was also now almost fully decked out in dungeon armor as well. This included myself.

With the teaming function of my system, I was able to invite everyone into team, and well, I got yells of surprise due to my health and mana, but luckily I was able to wave it all off. But what really surprised me was how fast we were leveling up after we all teamed up. Because the monster count was getting higher and higher as we continued on, everyone began taking on monsters solo to help clear the area faster. And this mean a flood of experience.

Currently i am at :

[Humanoid Form]

[Name]: Faith Cyrilia

[Age] 12

[Level] 170

[Race] Dragonic

[HP] 56750/56750

[MP] ∞

[Attack Power] 56350

[Magic Power] 56350

[Status Points] 1130

[Strength] 5635

[Vitality] 5675

[Intelligence] 5635

[Mind] ∞

[Agility] 5635

[Skill Points] 129

[Skills]

{Appraisal (LVL 10(MAX))} {Military Command (LVL 10(MAX))} {Military Tactics (LVL 10(MAX))} {Business Tycoon (LVL 10(MAX))} {Acting (LVL 1(MAX))}

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Reborn: I’m a Dragon Girl With An OP System Book 5

Table of Contents

Chapter1 Spin! Spin!

Chapter2 Overpowered Magic

Chapter3 Second Test End!

Chapter4 Team

Chapter5 Traveling To The Dungeon

Chapter6 Drama Inside The Dungeon Entrance

Chapter7 Ancient Will Rises Its Head Once More

Chapter8 This Should Not Be A Test Part 1

Chapter9 This Should Not Be A Test Part 2

Chapter10 Locked In

Chapter11 Mighty Mr. Blobs!

Chapter12 Boss!

Chapter13 Dungeon Dive Part 1

Chapter14 Dungeon Dive Part 2

Chapter15 Dream Part 1

Chapter16 Dream Part 2

Chapter17 I Was Bullied!

Chapter18 Battling Hobgoblins

Chapter19 First Real Boss Fight Part 1

Chapter20 First Real Boss Fight Part 2

Chapter21 First Real Boss Fight Part 3

Chapter22 First Real Boss Fight Part 4

Chapter23 First Real Boss Fight End

Chapter24 System

Chapter25 Teaming Function

Chapter26 Blood Seal Contract

Chapter27 Forced Underlings

Chapter28 Grace Under Fire Part 1

Chapter29 Grace Under Fire Part 2

Chapter30 Another Strange Dream

Chapter31 Angelic Race

Chapter32 Items

Chapter33 Diving Once Again

Chapter34 Mimic

Chapter35 Explaining The System Part 1

Chapter36 Explaining The System Part 2

Chapter37 Explaining The System Part 3