Cold, desolated, and dark, are some of the few words that I would use to describe the place that I was currently going through. It has been quite some time now since I walked through the musty smelling passageways of a cave.

I hate caves.

An eerie silence followed me and Saori as we trekked through the trolls’ home. None of us talked as we continued walking on the stone-cold floor, feeling the chilly earth under us.

While the cave’s corridors were large enough to accommodate our monster forms, we instead chose our human forms for this stealth mission. Our smaller frames were ideal to avoid attracting unneeded attention.

No light nor fire guided us on this path as we couldn’t risk revealing our location in enemy territory.

Anyways, thankfully, our [Night Vision] are both at a decent level, making walking through this pitch-black darkness, not a problem. What was problematic is the fact that this place is too fucking large!

Taking caution is important in a foreign place, especially when ambushes and traps are very likely. We can’t even fully rely on [Detection Sensor] or [Enhanced Enemy Sense] ‘cause it doesn’t tell us about the location of inanimate objects.

At the beginning of the cave, Saori was nearly skewered by a spike trap. Our [Danger Perception] only activated when she was a foot away from falling into it.

We had to continue with the mindset to be wary of everything, but our paranoia led to nothing. But that's when it happens! We let our guard down for a moment, and boom, we triggered a string trigger that let down a giant boulder!

Walking is not a problem but noticing these small details, like hiding a string behind a corner, pushes our focus to the extreme.

We were following them with Saori’s sense of smell, but the traps on the way were exhausting to deal with.

[“I hate this place…”] I finally let out a complaint using [Telepathy] to avoid making noise.

[“Come now, Hestia. Did you burn through all your daily energy, already?”] Saori said sarcastically to lighten up the mood.

[“No, I just hate this place. I hate caves…”] I snarled.

[“Stay optimistic, dear,”] she patted my back, assuring me that she was still beside me. [“We have to rescue somebody, so do not allow your title to bring you down.”]

My title [The Light] grants my body an annoying flaw, which not only makes me more susceptible to dark elemental attacks, but it also makes me feel uneasy being in complete darkness. Nighttime isn’t much of a problem thanks to the moonlight.

It also mentioned that I would be “weakened” but it only worsens my mood.

Well, if the darkness and the traps weren’t enough, there was also a bunch of creepy totems. There was one in the front of the cave, and we’ve been seeing a ton of them along the path that we were walking.

The creepy part of these totems came from the fact that a monster skull was adorning the top of a wooden pole, with three dreamcatcher-looking things attached to its eye and nose holes. I just had no idea what it was supposed to say.

"Why do you have to make them so ominous?", I asked my mental image of the troll shaman, but he didn't answer back, of course.

[“…We found them;”] Saori reported, finally locating them with her nose.

[“Alright then, time to set up phase two,”] I said with a sigh of relief.

Having said that, I put my homemade bombs that I was carrying around back into my storage, as the first phase was done.

I then proceeded to quietly construct a wall connecting the ground to the ceiling, blocking the path we just came through. After checking that there were no gaps, I took out a bunch of firewood, a self-made stone cauldron, and all my paralyzation toxins.

Our plan was simple. Create a distraction and let Saori rescue the fairy. Afterward, get the fuck out.

[“You should have [Paralyzation Resistance Lv. 10], right, Saori?”] I asked my companion, just to make sure.

[“I have tested it;”] Saori answered while pouring the toxic fluids into the cauldron. [“Your poison cannot stun me.”]

Saori’s plan was to have me catch the attention from the trolls, while she would sneak behind them to pinpoint the fairy’s location. She would then free her, and then we would escape from there.

To make sure that our plan would work, we prepared some extra measures. Besides the whole of phase one, I would also boil all the paralyzing fluids to have the trolls inhale the fumes. They weren’t completely immune to it, compared to me and Saori, and considering that the only path outside from here is now blocked, they will have no way to flee.

However, we were still on a time limit with this plan. Fire eats up oxygen, and we still needed it to breathe. We had to hurry up, otherwise, we will be putting ourselves in danger, too.

[“Here, Hestia,”] Saori handed me a breathing mask. I thanked her and immediately put it on. [“This amount of wood might cause enough smoke to cover the whole room. Better safe than sorry.”]

The mask was completely blue ‘cause Saori made it using her [Mana Weave] skill, just like my dress. For spectators, it might look like we were wasting time, but it wasn’t.

Saori made a good point before we entered, "She is a stranger, Hestia. Our safety is more important than hers.".

I couldn’t talk back to Saori, knowing that she was completely correct. Not only are we risking our lives for somebody we never met before but were also entering enemy territory just to save that one person. We aren’t action movie protagonists that would jump into a villain’s base just to save the girl.

I’ve dragged Saori into this fight against her will, so the least I could do was to be a good friend and listen to her. I only hope that we weren’t too late.

[“Ok, everything should be finished, now,”] the fire was burning hot, slowly cooking the fluids inside the cauldron.

[“Good job, Hestia;”] she patted my head and smiled. [“Don’t forget to put a bomb on that wall. It will be the trigger for our escape.”]

Saori pointed at the wall that I just made. I took out one of my bombs and stuck it into it. Using [Trap Creation], I also set a trigger a bit further away, so the bomb would trigger when I step onto it.

With that, we were finished. Our prep work was done and now the real show could begin.

[“My skill says that four people are inside that room,”] I informed Saori what [Detection Sensor] told me. [“Three dots are surrounding one. Be careful, Saori.”]

[“You too, Hestia.”]

Operation: “Save the Fairy”, start!

Using our stealth skills, we sneaked closer to the room where the action will be. Looking through the entrance, I was welcomed by a large, no, massive chamber, spacious enough to fit in an army. There wasn’t much inside it yet, as the trolls must be its only occupant, right now.

What I could see were two bell-shaped tents placed to the left of the room’s middle, with a large campfire burning in their midst. A cooking pot was placed over it and from smelling the aroma, my mouth was filling up with saliva.

Gulp.

Behind the tents, a pile of weapons and armor can be seen. There wasn't a lot of it but identifying them showed that they had around the same quality the trolls were currently equipped with.

To the left of the camp, barrels and casket full of food and water were neatly packed beside and on each other. There were also boxes filled with glass bottles of a certain liquid. From this distance, it was too hard for me to use [Identify] on them, unfortunately.

I transferred my buff spells onto Saori with [Synergist’s Oath] and she then slipped through the entrance, evading the awareness of the trolls.

After reapplying the buff spells on myself, I entered the room and looked at the trolls who were huddling around something in the middle of the chamber. [Night Vision] helped me see in the dark but recognizing details were still troublesome, making it very hard to describe that very something.

Snapping my fingers together, I created a spark. “Hello, Mister Trolls!” I spoke with my humanized voice, amplifying it with [Aerokinesis] like a microphone.

As my job was to draw their attention to me, I cast [Shine] and [Light] to imitate spotlights and directed them to beam their light onto me.

“I would like to request that you hand over…!”

In the middle of my speech, [Prediction] and [Danger Perception] exploded into action, warning me of something life-threatening.

That "something" the trolls were crowding around started to radiate blue light.

“Terra Wall! Sanctuary! Air Shield!”

My instincts were telling me that I had no time to dodge it. The panic and fear of this unavoidable attack pressured me to immediately construct my defensive spells, not caring for how much mana I would use.

“Guk!”

With the sound of an exploding cannon, an intangible blue ball was shot out of that “something”.

Faster! Faster!

It effortlessly bore through the incomplete [Terra Wall], leaving only dust behind, giving me little to no time left for [Sanctuary] and [Air Shield] to fully materialize as it pierced through the air, making its way to me.

My teeth clenched together, cold sweat pouring down my face, as I reminded myself that I was currently in my human form. Having no time to transform back, I crossed my hands in front of my body, tucked my head behind them, and prayed that my current stats would be enough to survive this attack.

The piercing blue ball made contact with my half-materialized [Sanctuary], shattering it into fragments, and then dispelled [Air Shield] by merely touching it. Colliding with my [Draconic Barrier], my naked arms could feel the impact literally shaking my bones.

Looking at my dwindling mana, I could feel the blood in my face draining away as I acknowledged that this attack would have definitely sent my Health to zero if it weren’t for my [Draconic Barrier].

My bones were shattering at the sheer pressure, but I was holding on by sheer will. My survival will be decided on who will triumph this showdown, my mana or the firepower of this attack.

“ARGGGGGGGGGGGH!”

Eventually, the winner was decided.

The blue ball that pierced through all my defensive spells was unable to destroy my [Draconic Barrier] and exploded, blowing me into the wall behind me. My whole body dug into it, leaving an imprint.

Clouds of dust and debris were released from this destruction and covered the area around me, making it hard to breathe under this face mask.

“Uaraghhhhhhhhhhhhhhhhh…GUK! Arrrrrrgh…ha ha.”

[“Hestia! Answer me!] I could hear Saori’s distressed voice through my mind. [“Are you ok! Hestia, please, answer me!”]

[“Stop!”] fighting through nausea, I called out to Saori to stop approaching me. I couldn’t see her ‘cause I was blown outside the chamber, but my senses were sharp as always. [“I’m fine! Stick with the plan!”]

Saori stood still for a bit, unsure if she should listen to me or not, [“Kuso! Kuso! I’ll kill those bastards!”] (“Shit! Shit! I’ll kill those bastards!”), with that declaration, Saori sneaked her way past everybody’s attention.

We really need a tank or something…

While lamenting the problems of being the “bait”, I inspected the damage on my body.

My mana dress was torn into shreds but was slowly repairing itself using my mana. My arms, being the closest to the blast, were completely deformed. Bones were sticking out of my fingers and elbow, my pale skin was riddled with wounds and blood, and my ability to move them was gone.

Health 328 / 2379 Mana 3697 / 8204 Stamina 456 / 1206

Scheiße! Scheiße! Scheiße…Moderate Heal! Moderate Heal! Moderate Heal!

Proficiency requirement fulfilled. [Sacred Magic Lv. 4] evolved into [Sacred Magic Lv. 5] Magic gained: [Major Heal]

…! Major Heal! Major Heal!

It has been too long since my Health was this low. I didn’t know what would happen if my Health dropped to zero in my humanized form, but my mind wasn’t interested in that; instinct was telling me to focus all my attention on fixing my mangled arms.

Eventually, my arms began thanking me for reforming them back into their original shape by assaulting me with pain. I simply shrugged it off and started to stand up.

“Buraghhh!” however, when I tried to move, a cracking sound came out of my chest, making me vomit out blood.

I didn’t lose that much blood for a dragon, however, I wasn’t currently in my dragon form. In human form, this large pool of blood puke was enough to make me feel light-headed.

Biting my teeth together, I quickly identified that my internal organs and skeleton were also ravaged from the attack. It seems like breathing was harder not only ‘cause of the dust cloud.

While healing my body, I noticed that the external wounds weren’t as conspicuous, considering how terribly damaged my insides were. I sighed in relief that I was lucky enough to have my heart dodge all my broken bones.

Judging from all the damage, if I hadn’t had [Absolute Pain Tolerance], I would have definitely fainted. I was unconsciously moaning and groaning like there was no tomorrow, after all. My skill helped me stay conscious enough to patch me up but from how hard I was sweating; my body must be boiling from all this pain.

Health 2379 / 2379 Mana 1003 / 8204

At the rate that I was using mana to heal myself, I have to absolutely avoid the next attack at any cost.

My parallel minds are telling me that I shouldn’t be wary of arcane corruption. It seems like [Draconic Barrier] barely produced any at all, at the cost of heavily reducing my stamina.

Having finished healing my body, I looked up and used [Identify] on that “something” that nearly killed me.

Warhammer Mana Cannon An artillery weapon created by an engineering team of dwarves. This cannon uses a large mana battery to power up its fortress destroying mana blast. Due to complications in its engine, the cannon is unstable and might explode if used beyond its limit. Heats up incredibly fast and requires maintenance after every shot

Are you fucking kidding me?! A fucking cannon?!

Not only did these trolls booby trap this whole cave, but they also had a cannon ready?! No wonder they caught me off guard!

My skills cannot sense inanimate objects, and those trolls didn’t have the necessary attack power to endanger me that much that it would kill me.

I'm not happy that I had to receive that mana cannon head-on, but a smile crept up my face, knowing that this cannon will only direct its aim on me!

I might have just survived but Saori would have been turned into a mess if that had hit her.

Fuck them up, Saori! Leave occupying these idiots to me!

[Adrenaline (Minor)] inflicted on [Young Spark Inferno Dragon, Hestia Atsuko]

Licking the blood off my lips, I refocused and let out a roar, “Kraaaaaaaaaaah!”. Jumping out of the dust cloud, I sprinted back into the chamber with renewed vigor.

Once my vision returned, a bright blue light greeted me, shooting another ear-splitting mana blast.

“Come at me! Banishment Beam!”

From my right arm, a beam of brilliant white shot out, crashing against the mana ball. My spell struggled with pushing the cannon blast away from me, however, I was able to redirect it from hitting me directly. The blast grazed my right arm, dislocating it, and crashed into the entrance's wall, widening it.

“ARGH!”

The attack sent me tumbling onto the ground but using [Acrobatic] and my claws, I managed to fully recover from the fall, only losing minimum momentum. I cast healing spells onto my right arm and adjusted it with a loud crack back to its proper location.

“Kraaaaaaaaaaaaaah!” closing into my prey, a war cry escaped my throat.

““Guuuuuuuraaaaagah!”” challenging me with loud roars, the two remaining troll warriors left the troll shaman and engaged me in close combat.

The troll shaman once again enchanted the trolls' weapons and armor with the water element, giving them the type advantage in this situation.

Controlled by a frenzy, I shot out multiple [Sacred Smites]. Using my humanized form’s small frame, I slipped past the trolls’ shield while they were pre-occupied with blocking my spell barrage.

Putting in all the strength I could muster, I swiped my right arm with [Spark Claws] activated into the belly area of the troll. Breaking through his armor, I clawed out a large chunk of flesh.

“Arrrrrrrgh!” a pain-filled voice escaped the troll, as he tried to counterattack with his mace.

Deftly sidestepping it, I then aimed an [Inferno Beam] at the troll’s head but was stopped mid-cast ‘cause of the other troll’s support. Despite the reduced numbers, they still worked well together.

Knowing that I was outnumbered, I nonetheless kept up my assault. It was a dance of magic and metal, as I continued shooting out spells, while they swung down their weapons at me.

Every single of their counterattack left a small window, that was abusable with my high Agility, as I slowly shredded through their “strong” armor with my metal-slicing claws.

The shaman would occasionally shoot out a water spell to counter my fire spells but was mostly preparing the mana cannon for its next shot.

“Uck…”

Amid our twirl of attacks, one of the troll warriors suddenly dropped to his knees. A quick [Identify] informed me that he had [Paralyzation (Minor)].

My build-up fatigue vanished the second I knew of this, understanding that the fumes were finally having an effect on them.

“Gack! Gack!”

At the back, the shaman was also coughing profusely.

Looking around, I finally noticed that black smoke was covering the chamber like a fog. My own lungs were having trouble breathing in air, as the oxygen was diminishing by the second from the heavy breathing of all the combatants. It also didn’t help that my continued fire spells drained the room of air like a vacuum cleaner.

As the neurotoxic fumes infected the trolls, their already fatigued bodies were unable to keep up with my continued assault.

The trolls’ situation was precarious enough that the shaman had to stop working on the cannon to fully dedicate himself to supporting his warriors.

“Kriii argh…gack! Il socht thae…, gack, sadon!”

Still coughing excessively, the troll took out a vial of black liquid and quickly consumed it all in one big gulp. He gave a maddened laugh and began casting a new spell.

At that very moment, large shadow tendrils erupted from the ground and captured the shaman in their clutches.

“Wroooooouuuuu!”

“Grack! Arrrrrrrrghhhhh!”

As if she was part of the shadow, a large wolf lunged at the troll shaman, penetrating his throat with her ferocious-looking canines. The shaman screamed in pain, coughing up blood, as he desperately failed his arms around in a futile attempt to free himself from this death-dealing bite.

Despite his higher Strength stat, he was unable to throw Saori off. I checked his status with [Identify] and noticed that he had [Paralyzation (Moderate)], while the troll warriors only had minor. It was very likely that Saori coated her mouth with my paralyzation fluid.

The troll warriors turned their backs to me and ran to the aid of the troll shaman, however, their advances were stopped by the shockwave of the [Scorching Sun] I threw at them. Without the support of the shaman’s water spells, the warriors squirmed in pain, as they tried to extinguish the flames melting through their armor, fusing metal with their skin.

Using this moment to my advantage, I started casting a new inferno spell.

“Thank you for your energy everybody. You guys were a great audience! Maximum powered Blazing Twister!”

As the temperature of the air sharply rose ever higher, the first sparks of fire started to appear, with more appearing over time. The scorching heat began twisting in the center of the trolls, burning the very air these trolls were breathing until flames began to appear.

A roaring blaze morphed into flaming winds of carnage accelerated its turning speed ever more until the spell was completed.

The roars of pain can be clearly heard from within this spell's area of effect. It didn't matter if your armor was made from fire-resistant material or not 'cause nothing could endure the amount of heat exerted from my grand spell.

If a single powerful fire spell won't do it, then slowly peeling away the scales and melting the metal until the wearer was cooked in his own armor, should be more effective. The twisting inferno consumed everything that the trolls once had; their skin, flesh, and life.

Experience has reached multiple breaking points. [Young Spark Inferno Dragon, Hestia Atsuko] has risen from [Level 18] to [Level 23] Attributes have increased due to level up Acquired 2950 skill points Multiple proficiency requirements fulfilled. [Synergist’s Oath Lv. 2] [Draconic Barrier Lv. 3] [Mental Stability Lv. 3] [Piercing Enhancement Lv. 3] [Parallel Thoughts Lv. 7] [Enhanced Vitality Enforcement Lv. 3] [Enhanced Wisdom Enforcement Lv. 3] gained

Having finished my battle, I looked over at Saori’s direction. My mouth turned into a grin as I noticed the troll shaman’s eyes no longer showing any signs of life.

Saori turned back into her human form and rushed over to give me a hug.

[“Thank goodness you’re still in one piece, Hestia,”] Saori gave a long-winded sigh as she held me in her arms, albeit a bit too tightly.

I laughed enthusiastically, “Ha ha, I told you that I was alright. You don’t need to worry when I have my healing ma…ow, ow, ow, no, no! Not my cheeks!”

Holding both my cheeks in her hands, Saori stretched them to the sides as if they were gummy bears, [“Stop being so boastful. You made me worry, Hestia!”]

Our mood was pretty lively despite my near-death experience. Our plan didn't go completely as we wanted, but we still won in the end.

After releasing my cheeks, we went to the fairy’s location, while I caressed my pained face.

According to my [Detection Sensor], the fairy was trapped in a compartment of the mana cannon. Opening it, I could feel some of my mana being drained just by having my hand close to it. Looking in, the fairy was there, crouching and wheezing as if she just ran a marathon.

Checking her status board, my attention was caught by her slowly decreasing mana.

I quickly grabbed her out of the cannon and started pouring my mana into her.

[“Hey, Miss Fairy,”] once it seemed like she recovered, I spoke to her. [“Are you feeling, alright?”]

[“I-It’s you two!”] stuttering, the fairy uttered her surprise at seeing us rescue her. [“Y-You came back for me?”]

["We made up our mind to save you, so of course, we will keep our word,”] Saori spoke from the side to reassure the fairy.

[“I-I thank you so very much,”] still, in my hands, the fairy started to weep, continuously thanking us.

Feeling a bit timid holding a crying girl in my arms, I averted my eyes and changed the topic in a panic, [“Right, right! We haven’t introduced ourselves yet! M-My name is Hestia, and this is…”]

[“Saori Segawa. A pleasure to have met your acquaintance,”] Saori’s perfectly normal introduction left me dumbfounded.

[“Thank you very much, Hestia and Saori. May the winds of Zephira and water of Plesia bless you two,”] still sniffing, the fairy reciprocated our introduction. [“My name is Tasianna Marina Silverpond. A simple fairy, as you can see.”]

Plesia? Is that another god?

[“I don’t know how I can ever repay you for saving me but ask anything you wish. I will do my best to fulfill it,”] Tasianna stated, humbly bowing her head.

[“We can talk about that later, let’s first…!”]

As if it was normal, I and Saori dodged to the sides when our [Prediction] warned us of an incoming attack. Turning my head around, I saw a boulder crashing into the mana cannon, spinning it around until its muzzle pointed at the source of the boulder.

“Grrrrrrrrouugghghgh!”

His eyes were abyss black, his body deformed to a grotesque abomination leaving no signs of his previous appearance. Horrifying, hairy tentacles grew out of his torso and wriggled around as if they had a mind of their own. His limbs enlarged and looked bloated as if they were left too long in water.

The only part of his body that was still normal was the head but even that received a make-over with all his teeth growing out of proportioned into tusks.

The troll shaman was no more. At first, I thought the slimes were the most hideous and bizarre creatures in this world, but this weird freak just went the extra mile to prove to me that it is the most outlandish and eldritch looking monster in existence!

Wanting to know more about it, I used [Identify] but all that came out of it was:

Information not available.

My brain froze for a second as I learned this fact. In that small window of vulnerability, the mutated troll grasped my leg, pulling me to it.

“Aahhhh!”

Screaming, my body collapsed onto the ground, releasing the fairy from my hands in the process. The troll swung me over his head and then slammed my whole body onto the ground with full force.

Any damage was minimized with my [Draconic Barrier] but my body still screamed at me for endangering it once again. My parallel minds were also dutifully healing me, leaving me relatively unharmed despite engraving multiple imprints of my humanized body on the cave’s floor.

The mutated troll kept on swinging and slamming me on the ground, just like a hulking man would do it to a jester god.

[Exhaustion (Minor)] inflicted on [Young Spark Inferno Dragon, Hestia Atsuko]

“Urrrrgggh…”

Moaning, I activated [Flame Spark Veil], creating sparks to appear around my body, which unfortunately reduced my Stamina to zero. One of the sparks ignited the eye of the troll on fire, who then released me by throwing me away like a used-up tissue.

[“Hestia!”] Saori once again transformed back into her garm form and caught me mid-flight.

Feeling the soreness of my muscles, I couldn’t help but groan a complaint, “Fuck me…”

[“Uhh, no thank you,”] for some reason, Saori responded to my pain with a joke.

“Saoriiiiiiiiii!” like a whining child, I cried out.

[“Ok, ok, I am sorry. Oh, my goodness, I am doing a terrible job as your retainer. I told myself that I would protect you, but I just let my princess be injured twice!”] Saori apologized.

As we were having a moment, the mutated troll crawled to us in the most unsightly way possible.

“Isht sa ous ahk zath’ll il hukma!” Shouting in her own language, mine and Saori’s head turned towards the source. The fairy, Tasianna, was operating what looked like the trigger of the cannon.

Pushing it, the cannon’s muzzle, once again, glowed a bright blue and shot out a powerful mana ball at the mutated troll, blasting him away into a wall.

“Ja!” standing up, I shouted in elation that the troll had a taste of its own medicine. “That’s how it feels!”

Saori looked at me in confusion, noticing my weird outburst. However, I didn’t have the time to defend myself as Tasianna suddenly fell to the ground.

Picking her back up, I recognize that she was stunned by breathing in too much of the fumes.

Using [Cure], I cured her of that status ailments. [“Nice shot!”], giving her thumbs up, I complimented her shooting.

[“Thank you very much, Princess Hestia.”]

Uhhhh, what?!

Suddenly hearing somebody else besides Saori calling me princess, made my mind freeze, again. Fatigue was slowly getting to me, I guess.

[“My Lady!”] waking me up from my stupor, I shook my head and turned my gaze to Saori’s. [“We fulfilled our plan so it is time for us to escape, now!”]

“Gruuuuarghhhhhaghh!”

That thing is still alive?!

Whatever was possessing this troll, made it so much harder to kill now. He recovered from that cannon shot as if it was nothing.

Not wanting to stay any longer than we had to, I got on Saori’s back and let her ride us out of here.

Exiting the chamber, I threw a [Firebolt] at the trap I made at the start of this rescue operation, triggering the bomb that was jammed in the wall.

The bomb lighted up red for a moment and then detonated in a grand explosion.

Riding through the dust of the now destroyed wall, I noticed small balls stuck on the cave’s walls lighten up a similar red color, showing us the path to get outside.

After some time, those balls would also explode.

[“This plan is so excessive! I can’t believe you’re the one to have thought of it, Saori!”] I incredulously shouted.

[“It was for the worse case that there were more trolls than we expected. Every single one of them would have been buried under this mountain!”] Saori shouted back to rebuke me.

Hearing Saori explaining the first phase of her plan was enough to leave me speechless. She wanted me to plant bombs on the walls of the cave, while we traveled through it. They would light up before they exploded, guiding us out of this place, while simultaneously covering our escape from the trolls.

“Grrriiaauauaauaghahaah!”

[“What the hell! Saori, I thought you killed that thing?!”] looking back, I could see the mutated troll keeping up with us.

[“I did, my Lady! You saw its Health. It was dead for sure!”] Saori’s loud voice cried out in her defense.

We weren’t sure how it got back up, but we knew that this thing would pursue us relentlessly if we didn’t kill it off now!

Colliding my fangs against each, I took in a deep breath. The spark quickly grew into a massive ball of fire, as I continuously poured in mana through my mouth.

Spark Inferno Blast!

Opening my mouth, I released the bigger-than-my-mouth inferno ball. My dragon flame collided against the mutated troll and sent him flying back. The consequence of the chain of explosion finally showed itself as the ceiling of the cave began falling, burying the troll under it.

Giving it her all, Saori sprinted like the wind and we finally made it outside the cave.

Experience has reached a breaking point. [Young Spark Inferno Dragon, Hestia Atsuko] has risen from [Level 23] to [Level 24] Attributes have increased due to level up Acquired 600 skill points Multiple proficiency requirements fulfilled. [Inferno Magic Lv. 5] [Noble Aura Lv. 3] [Battle Mind Lv. 6] [Prediction Lv. 7] [Danger Perception Lv. 2] [Probability Correction Lv. 3] [Acrobatic Lv. 10] [Leadership Lv. 3] gained Multiple acquisition requirements fulfilled. [Concentration Lv. 1] [Body Temperature Control Lv. 1] [Fear Resistance Lv. 1] acquired Skill requirement fulfilled. [Air Walk Lv. 1] gained Magic gained: [Spiral Hellfire]

Is this…!

[“Guys…I got the level up,”] with that, I informed my companions of the mutated troll’s death…uh, death-death?

[“Ahhhh, this victory was hard-fought, Lady Hestia,"] Saori immediately collapsed onto the ground, panting heavily.

“YEAAAAAHHHH!” learning that we won, I wrapped my arms around Saori’s fuzzy fur and began nuzzling against it.

[“I wish to once again, thank you for coming to my rescue,”] in all our cheering, a voice came from the side. [“You have my greatest thanks, Madam Saori and Princess Hestia.”]

Princess?! Did she just call me princess?

[“Uhhh, princess? Nein, nein. I think you misheard that, Miss Tasianna,”] I tried my best to object her claim, however, it was fruitless.

[“You don’t have to worry, Princess Hestia. I overheard Madam Saori mention it.”]

I glared at Saori, who averted her eyes and simply said, “Oops.”.

[“I know this is rude of me, just after you have risked your life to save me but…”] Tasianna placed her hands on her lap and gave me a complete bow. [“Please, allow me to serve you, Princess Hestia!”]

…

…Uhhh, what?