The first few floors of the dungeon we went down were much bigger than I thought, with ceilings being tens of hundreds of feet from above, there were still walls surrounding us, giving our monsters not as much room to hide other than obstacles like large rocks and stalagmites. The only light source that was revealing our path were special luminescent magic stones embedded in the walls and ceiling, bright enough to show us a path, but plenty of places where the light didn’t reach for potential enemies to hide and ambush us. With our ways of tracking monsters, though, we didn’t run into those problems.

My talk seemed to influence Agnes as I had her try the next couple of battles after my demonstration. While I initially had her be rearguard to cast magic from a distance, she wanted to follow my example and see how she fared without it. I had no problems with that and she’d be saving her mana for the bigger battles ahead. So, we both played vanguard and defeated low-tier monsters on sight, attacking them from behind and delivering fatal blows while their guards were down. Agnes was cooperative and attentive as she followed my instructions almost perfectly. I never gave her a chance to shine during our duel yesterday, but it was clear how much Seal disciplined her into swordplay as I saw her easily cutting through enemies with a well-crafted shortsword.

I didn’t get more flashbacks from that time with the bandits after my first battle with the lower imps. I wasn’t sure how much that night affected me but I probably didn’t see those bandits in the monsters because I wasn’t alone, that I had to watch out for Agnes as her friend and temporary party member. Not to mention the adults were with us, too, so I had to try to not let my dwelling on that night show on my face and rouse their concern. With all of those things to think about, I guess it would be difficult for my mind to pull another fast one.

Before long, we made it to the 3rd floor; the requirement needed for us to start off as F-Rank hunters. Agnes and I still had plenty of energy to spare and wished to continue the exam. Rala gave her approval as our examiner, and Zalena was on board for pretty much anything. And so we kept going down.

For what monsters we faced, the first two floors when we came in had lower imps, goblins, and these dog-like monsters called henchhounds. From the third floor, the previously mentioned monsters were stronger, basically more numbers of the one lower imp playing leader that I killed when we first started. There were some evolved versions of those first few monsters that played the leader part more aggressively, though. These were low imps (a step up from ‘lower’ imps), a few hob goblins, and omegahounds, each with characteristics that make them stand out from their pre-evolved, weaker selves.

From that point, after defeating the first few and getting a taste of their power, we agreed to avoid fighting them, making the most of our search spells to find ways around the monsters. We only fought them when we had to, when all routes to go around them were closed, and when we fought, we tried to beat them as quick as possible, even resorting to magic.

I first thought using magic to its minimum while not rousing suspicion would be difficult, but then I remembered I had my Conductor that can play the part of a wand and a dagger. The wind type e-stone in the weapon was especially useful to my advantage. While they’re not needed, hunters who primarily use magic for attacking and defending (the ‘mages’ of this world) used wands and staves as means to better channel their mana to cast spells. When said weapons have e-stones and other special jewels, they give casters a boost of power in their spells. These staves and wands were expensive, so the best most mage-type hunters would make do were those made of cheap, decently crafted wood. Knowing that, Seal and Lilia’s collaboration in my gift held a much deeper meaning.

When I had to resort to magic on these monsters from the 3rd floor down, I put my Conductor’s capabilities to its full use, mainly to shoot Wind Needles at the lower end of power levels that I could manage: 5%. Why that absurdly low percentage was for a few reasons. One was to test how powerful my Conductor would be as it was the first time I had the pleasure of using a wand-like weapon to cast spells, especially one that has an e-stone matching to my specialty in Wind Magic. Since there’s mithril in the weapon, a metal that’s highly conductive to mana, it would make casting certain kinds of magic all the easier to use and more powerful. The other was my Companions. Even if fairies tried to conserve their magic, they still give their Chaperones a boost of power just being near them, and there were five of mine in my pockets.

As a result, even when I tried dulling the piercing power of my Wind Needles down to practically ‘Wind Pellets,’ blatantly casting the spell wrong, the combined additional power of my Companions and the Conductor was enough to make holes into the monsters’ shells. They didn’t go all the way out to the other side, but it was deep into their vitals enough that killed the monsters within seconds. Compared to the very first two bandits I killed instantly the few nights before, the monsters’ deaths looked more gruesome. My power surprised Rala and Zalena, and while my shock was genuine, I played it off by saying how effective the Conductor was.

While Rala tested our performance, our main goal was to get as deep into Myron dungeon as possible. With our ‘avoid and fight quickly when needed’ strategy and using our search magic to find their whereabouts, we practically breezed through to the 8th floor, the requirement for us to start as E-Rank hunters, the same as Claire. Since there were some decent-looking rocks to sit on and there weren’t any monsters nearby, we found this to be a good time to have our lunch and discuss our next strategy. I took out the lunches the guild gave us from my Dark Space, some sandwiches, jerky, and we brought our own canteens to store water. I asked Agnes if she needed a mana potion, but she said she was fine.

“Well, by this point you’re both accomplished and more than ready to start as hunters, especially at E-Rank,” Rala started as the two of us ate. The guild gave Rala, Flinto, and Zalena lunches for taking part in observing our exam. “The most reasonable next course of action while we still have energy is to get out of the dungeon and head back to Brightlas. It will take more energy to go up the incline than it is to go further down.”

“Is there really no other way to get back to the surface?” Agnes asked.

With Dark Gate, I could get us out of there easily. I could even take us right back to the guild if I wanted, but since it was an advanced spell that takes more out of someone the further distance they go from the start, an eleven-year-old being able to pull it off would raise the grown-ups’ eyebrows. Agnes was already aware of me capable of that since I went from Lunargrove to Brightlas at an instant with that method, and Grayson was near enough to hear it when I reunited with her. Agnes was doing what she could to keep my capability a secret, hence playing dumb about no other way to get out of the dungeon, but I wasn’t sure if Grayson filled Rala and Zalena in on that before we left. At the very least, he could have requested them to keep a close eye on me in particular for any suspicious behavior while playing dumb on what they know about my prowess.

“There is one other way,” Zalena said, catching all of our attention. “At the end of the 14th floor, there is a magic transport circle that can take us right back outside of the dungeon’s entrance. We all stand on the circle, channel our magic at once on it, and we would be home free.”

“But that would mean going deeper down and running into more monsters, stronger than what we had seen so far.”

“That said, I would like to see you two going to the 15th floor,” Zalena continued, ignoring Rala’s comment. We were all shocked at Zalena’s suggestion.

“… You want to see us take on the mid-boss monster?” I asked.

“Has all of that ‘playing around’ finally messed up your brain?!” Rala exclaimed after getting back to her senses. “Do you even know what you’re saying?! These are children here! I tried to keep it down, but I’ve been growing anxious the deeper we’ve been going down this dungeon!”

“You were not against going further down when we made it to the 3rd floor,” Zalena argued.

“I thought they’d change their minds part way through! Look, I know Soar’s dad and I’ve been on the receiving end of his boasting on how great his son is. Since this is Gullivan we’re talking here, I could only imagine how strong Soar was. I expected him or Lady Agnes, surely from an influential noble family herself, would go back after halfway through the 5th floor, or even at start of the 6th floor.

“Usually by halfway through the 3rd or 4th floor, other kids would want to go back after seeing how strong and intimidating those monsters were. Then I’d help them get right back up to the surface and to the guild, praising their efforts to Grayson while treating them to cookies from my favorite bakery for a job well done!”

Just how childish does she think we are to be ecstatic over cookies?

“… Cookies. That is a kind of sweet that commoners like to eat occasionally, yes?”

“Wait, are you saying you never had a cookie before?” I asked Agnes.

“Father only lets me have cakes and tarts on special occasions, like birthdays and having tea with esteemed guests. I heard about them and only saw them the first time when I ordered those treats for your birthday party, I had been wondering how they tasted, since.”

“… Agnes, when we get out of here, I will treat you to the biggest damn cookie we can find in Brightlas,” I said with a hand on her shoulder. I may not like kids, but even I knew they should relish the little things like those while they’re still young. Hearing someone around Agnes’ age who never had a cookie before was as shocking to me as a kid finding out Santa Claus doesn’t exist.

“That’s my line!” Rala exclaimed. Flinto then came up and placed a paw on one of her legs while looking up. Rala saw it and looked to have gotten whatever message Flinto was trying to cross before she sighed and turned back to the two of us. “I’ll admit, the two of you exceeded my expectations. Kids around your age getting this far in the exam are rare around these parts and this is a first for me, so please forgive me if I’m acting over the edge.

“That aside, watching how the two of you work and fight together, whatever training you went through was worth it to get this far. Both of you have potential to be fantastic hunters, you may even surpass me at a shorter time than I thought previously. Starting off at E-Rank would be perfect for kids like you, I see no more reason needed for you two to prove yourselves. I can guarantee it as I’ll talk to Grayson about it myself.

“With that said, you need not go further down to prove yourselves and I highly recommend we go back. Forget cookies, I’ll get each of you a whole cake of your choosing to celebrate your achievement, so … what do you say?” Rala looked on at us with hopeful and desperate look in her eyes. Flinto sat next to her and stared at us, waiting for our answer.

Since I heard what I needed to hear from Rala’s side, I turned to the other adult. “Ms. Vaxine—”

“Please, call me Zalena,” she interrupted. “You have more than earned the right to address me casually. That goes for you, too, fairy girl.”

“So, we will still get referred to as fairy boy and fairy girl, huh?” Agnes asked with slight annoyance.

“… Zalena, going back to the question I asked earlier, were you wanting to see us how we’d handle the mid-boss monster at the 15th floor?”

“Yes. I had the feeling you differ from other kids, this was when I first set my eyes on you before finding out you were Gully’s son. You have piqued my curiosity, fairy boy, and I want to see more of what you can do as I learn about you. Oh, and I cannot forget our cool little fairy girl here, too. From my time, it is rare to see nobles with enough backbone to stand up against something as scary as monsters, much less for kids.”

“Is that right …” I have a feeling there’s more to that, but I probably shouldn’t act so paranoid around her for the time being. I don’t want to give away why I have to stay on my toes around her.

“Agnes, what do you want to do?” I asked Agnes next.

“I checked my status card and saw how much I had grown since we started. I could even feel it, too. I want to go as far down as possible, but only if you think I am ready for it, Soar. I will trust your judgement and go along with whatever you want to do.”

“Down to me, huh?” I crossed my arms and thought.

Marble exclaimed through telepathy.

[Cinder]

[Shadina]

[Mist]

[Breezy]

… Mona? Any thoughts?

… What about going to the 30th floor and defeating the dungeon boss with the two of us together? What are our odds then?

That’s quite a jump. Do you know what the monsters we’d be facing from this point on are like?

Wait, so, if I want to know what a monster’s weakness is, how much life they have left before dying, even the rates of item drops and how much their magic stones are worth, you can give me all of that info and more?

You’re a fucking walkthrough/strategy guide!

With that, my answer was obvious, but I had to confirm something with Rala first. “Is there a point where you’d need to intervene to stop the exam?”

“Usually when they’re seriously injured with little to no means of recovery or that the escort, that’s Zalena here in this case, had to step in and help secure victory enough that examinees wouldn’t be able to achieve on their own—wait, don’t tell me you’re seriously considering?!”

“Do you have any authority to deny our request of going down while we’re still in good health?”

“… No,” Rala deflated in defeat.

“Welp, I guess that settles it. Agnes, you’re doing very well for yourself so far. I want to see how far we can go, too. Can I count on you to watch my back?” I asked her.

“Of course! I will do whatever you need me to do!” she answered excitedly while pumping her fists. Her eyes burned with determination.

“Okay, then let’s spare the rest of our rations and save them for later. It’s good to make the most of the energy you have when you can, and leftovers would be especially useful under emergencies.”

“I see, that makes sense! I will take this knowledge to heart!”

“Uuu … just what did I sign myself up for here?” Rala practically bawled while slumping over. Flinto and Zalena did what they could to console her.