It’s been a week since Ardiolyta and Odeta had become my guests.
I did ask how would Ardiolyta’s companions know her whereabouts and she assured me that she had already sent a message to them.
At first I thought it was telepathy until she laughed and told me she merely did it through a messenger bird. She had the bird follow us from above and sent out the message on the second night.
It looks like she was still being wary of me back then and was still trying to see if she could trust me. Had I shown her any hostile intentions, she would have sent a different message instead.
Well, her actions were warranted so it’s not like I blame her anyway.
From her, I learnt that they came here by ship so when they have delivered the wyvern carcass, they will return back here to pick both Ardiolyta and Odeta up.
And just to avoid their skills getting rusty, my two Amrap sisters asked if there was a place where they could hunt monsters to train themselves.
Where else better to do that than the dungeons?
“There’s a dungeon here?” Ardiolyta gasped, looking at the cave in front of us.
“Mmhmm, this is where I would train myself back when I was still young. The first floor has an infant frost wyvern guarding it by the way, but I think the three of us should be able to handle it.”
Odeta gasped, “Eh? A boss room at the beginning?”
I grinned at her, “Yep! I assume that isn’t something normal?”
Ardiolyta shook her head, “Usually it would be a labyrinth and you would need to advance to the boss room from there. This is the first time I’ve heard that a dungeon starts off as a boss fight upon entry.”
Ha! I knew it!
Odeta pumped her fists, “I’ll… I’ll do my best!”
Unngg, I want to pat her so bad… Despite having a body size comparable to mine, that baby face is just too cute!
“I’ll get its attention, can I leave the flanks to the both of you?” I asked.
She smirked at me, “Come now! Aren’t we already sisters now? You can just call me sister Ardi! Everyone close to me calls me that!”
I coughed, “Umm… Ardi then… I’ll get the wyvern’s attention so I’ll leave its flanks to you and Odeta. It may just be an infant, but it’s still capable of using Cryomancy so watch out for that.”
She slapped me on the back, “Don’t worry about us, Aster! I’ll take care of my little sister, you just worry about yourself!”
Odeta pouted, “I can take care of myself, sister Ardi!”
Ardi grinned and ruffled her hair. I wanna do that too…
Let’s see, Ardi is using a greataxe and Odeta is using a sword. Since I’m taking the vanguard, I’ll be using my fists instead of my dagger this time.
I’m still hiding my magic from them just in case anything happens. It’s always better to hold at least some cards in your sleeves after all, even if I trust them right now.
As for the fight, I’m not too worried about Ardi but Odeta might get hurt again. That’s why I brought some of that healing salve and a first aid kit too, just in case.
Funny that I never brought any healing items along on my trips before this since I never really needed to use one before.
I went through some battle plans with the two Amraps, specifically telling them what the monster might do and what kind of spells it could use.
Knowing is half the battle after all.
What’s the other half? Violence of course.
Fully prepared, we descended the stairs and there waiting for us was the infant frost wyvern.
Ardi hefted her axe while Odeta drew her sword, both of them immediately running towards the side while I rushed at it head on like we had planned.
,m I felt it was also a little ironic that I started my adventures using a dagger and stealth magic so I should have been a rogue, but now I’m playing the role of a brawler.
In the background, I could hear the sounds of my battle music playing. The kind that you might hear when you encounter a wild monster in tall grass.
The wyvern hesitated, unsure of which one of us it should target first.
I gave it some encouragement by appearing in front of it and delivering a right hook across its snout.
I held back properly so the attack was enough to do damage but not enough to hurt it too much. My role here is to distract it for my other two companions to have their live battle practice after all, not just to hunt it.
The wyvern opened its mouth and tried to snap its jaws around me so I leapt back to avoid it.
At that moment, Ardi reached the wyvern first and slammed her great axe down on its side, slashing through its scales and delivering a massive blow against the wyvern.
It roared out in pain and tried to turn its head towards Ardi, only for me to deliver another punch to its snout to maintain its aggro on me.
Just as it had decided to target me again, Odeta had leapt into the air and slashed down at its wings, cutting through the wing membrane and leaving a large gash.
“Odeta! It’s still an infant and the space in this room is too small, the wyvern won’t be able to fly! You do not need to cripple its wings!” Ardi called out, slashing her axe at the wyvern’s side again.
“Yes, sister!” Odeta yelled back, immediately moving away from the wings to slide herself under the wyvern’s belly.
Her blade slashed out and she cut open a wound along the monster’s stomach, her slide bringing her to the wyvern’s opposite side.
The wyvern let out a roar and the room chilled significantly.
I had already warned them about this spell so they already knew what was coming before hand.
All three of us immediately leapt back as icicles appeared from the ground, skewering the places where we had been moments ago.
I dove back in again and shattered the icicles with my charge, delivering a roundhouse kick towards the side of the wyvern’s head.
That attack was enough to daze it, giving both Ardi and Odeta enough time to manoeuvre around the ice and continue their attacks.
Odeta went for the wyvern’s hindlegs and started hacking away at its tendons, the younger Amrap targeting its weak spots that her sword can reach as best as possible.
Ardi had leapt into the air and brought her giant axe down in an overhead swing, striking at the part where its wings joined its body in an attempt to cut it off.
The axe buried itself halfway in but was not enough to cut through completely.
The wyvern let out a shriek loud enough to shake the room, its tail lashing out and catching Ardi by her side before she could try again.
The Amrap growled as she rolled away to reduce the impact, more upset that she got hit than actually being hurt.
Odeta took revenge for her sister by slashing her sword at the tail, shaving off a small portion of the tip with her blade.
I punched the wyvern in the face again, prompting it to redirect its attention back to me.
It opened its jaws and I ducked out of the way as a breath of frost was blasted towards me, freezing the air above me.
In that position, my own tail lashed out and stuck it from under its chin, forcing its mouth shut and ending the frost breath attack.
Ardi then shoulder charged the wyvern’s face, slamming it with enough force to send the large monster crashing into the wall of the boss room.
Both Odeta and I watched as the Amrap raised her axe over her head and brought it down on the wyvern’s neck, burying the blade until it hit the bone.
She placed one foot on a part of its neck and yanked her axe out, taking a moment to aim her second blow before bringing her axe back down again, this time cutting through the bone as well.
You know… Now that I think about it… Odeta’s ten years old and she has no problems with wielding weapons to kill monsters. Makes one wonder just how the children are being raised in Amrap communities.
Not that I’m any different but that’s because I’m an Off-Worlder.
“Woo! That’s a great workout! That was great, Aster!” Ardi chuckled, wiping the sweat from her brow with the back of her hand, her chocolate skin glistening with sweat.
Odeta ran up to me, “Sister Aster was so cool! You fought the giant monster barehanded like it was nothing! Do you think I can be as strong as you in the future?!”
I giggled, “I’m sure you can! You have Ardi teaching you after all!”
“Ehh… But I want sister Aster to teach me!”
“Ouch, that hurt, Odeta. Perhaps I’m not good enough to be your instructor after all,” Ardi said with mock hurt in her voice.
“Eh? Ah! Ah! I don’t mean that big sister Ardi!”
“Wahahaha! I know, I know! I’m just messing with ya! Anyway, this is a good time to teach you how to deal with monster materials too! Did you bring your carving knife?”
Odeta unsheathed the dagger that was strapped to her hips, “Yes!”
“Now, the first thing you have to remember is the Mana Crystal which is the most important part, different monsters have different Mana Crystals and…”
I watched the older Amrap teach the younger one on the basics of extracting monster materials after a kill, something I was already intimately familiar with.
Still, it was interesting to learn how different people dealt with them so I also listened in as well. The speed of how quickly she carved up the wyvern was admittedly really impressive, no doubt the skill borne from years of experience.
I knew it, dungeon diving with a party is much more fun!