Chapter 55: A Doomed Party

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"After we hunted a lot we tried to go to the third floor," Clair sighed heavily. "I thought... we could find some hidden treasures because nobody visited this place. Now I realize why that happens..."

"Hm..." Riven nodded thoughtfully. "You’re a well-rounded team all things considered, but I guess you lack a proper core... and proper equipment and experience."

"Core?" wondered Clair, tilting her head in confusion.

"You’re three frail girls and one guy taking all the damage for you," sighed Riven. "That’s not a balanced team. A Core is someone who can do a little of everything. Something like a Red Mage perhaps, who can wield swords, wear light armor, and conjure both Elemental and Healing Magic."

"R-Red Mages?!" gasped Clair. "But they’re so expensive to hire..."

"We’re all friends," said Emma softly. "Um... and Philip’s my boyfriend."

"...Sorry. I thought I could protect them but... I failed," sighed Philip, shaking his head in clear disappointment.

Riven nodded and sighed again. "I don’t have anything against girls, but your builds aren’t well equipped for this dungeon. You need at least another strong warrior like Philip to properly advance. Relying only on him to take damage and bring monsters to you was eventually going to bite you on the back."

"Tsk..." Clair suddenly became annoyed out of nowhere. "And you?! You’re just... one guy and a Pierrot? W-What are you even doing here alone with a young girl? Are you some kind of perv— Hmmgh?!"

Suddenly Emma covered her mouth tightly. "I’m so sorry about this! Clair tends to run her mouth and talk nonsense when she’s nervous or feels guilty... Snap out of it! He saved our lives!"

"R-Riven is not a perv! W-Why would you ever say that?!" Daniela felt personally attacked. "He’s my adoptive father! And he’s strong enough to solo this whole dungeon! I help him with drops while he teaches me."

"O-Oh, so you’re a family..." Philip nodded in understanding. "Sorry about Clair. She’s... uh, well."

"..." Clair lowered her head, feeling deeply embarrassed by her outburst.

"Hm," Riven had glared at her with clear killing intent after hearing that accusation, but he eventually sighed and shook his head. "Move aside. I’ll heal her. I’ve already synthesized an antidote."

"S-Synthesized?" Philip asked in surprise. "What do you mean by that?"

"Here," Riven cut his own hand without hesitation and poured a small amount of blood into a small bottle. "Feed her this."

"..."

"..."

"..."

The three hunters glared at Riven with faces filled with pure disbelief.

"M-Maybe he’s a pervert after all..." muttered Emma under her breath.

"W-What...! Why are you giving us your blood?!" Philip asked in complete disbelief.

"It’s my Venom Creation Skill," Riven explained calmly. "I can absorb poisons, synthesize them, and create antidotes at will. The antidote just happens to be my own blood though. Or... well, there’s also saliva and sweat if you prefer. You choose."

They looked at one another nervously and finally took the blood bottle. "I guess this is fine... R-Right? Daniela, is he saying the truth?"

Daniela nodded happily. "Yep! Riven’s amazing. He can absorb skills from— Hmmgh?!" Riven quickly covered her mouth.

"Don’t go revealing how my Class works," said Riven firmly. "Sorry. She also loves to talk too much..."

After he let go of Daniela, she apologized with a nervous smile. "S-Sorry..."

The party was still skeptical, but Philip was the one who trusted Riven the most after he had overseen part of the earlier fight and seen how amazingly the man moved around the battlefield.

"I guess we can... try..." Philip said at last, carefully feeding Natalie the blood.

"Hmm... Ugh..." Natalie made a disgusted face but drank the medicine anyway. Suddenly she began coughing hard and felt a strong headache. "Agh...! Uuuggh!"

"What’s happening to her?!" Clair asked in rising disbelief. "D-Did you feed her something weird?!"

"The antidote is composed of many toxins put together," explained Riven patiently. "It’ll be fine. Her body just has to adapt to it."

FLAAASH!

Suddenly thick steam was released from Natalie’s body as she became as red as a tomato. She started sweating profusely. Slowly her breathing began to calm down and her temperature returned to normal.

After a few more seconds she opened her eyes, feeling full of vitality like never before. "W-Wha...? What happened?" The wounds across her body had been fully healed by now. "I’m fine? Who... Huh? Woah! A super-hot guy?!"

"You’re Natalie, right? I just saved your life. You’re welcome," Riven crossed his muscular arms casually.

"Oh..." Natalie blushed deeply and swallowed hard.

"NATALIE!"

Her friends immediately hugged her tightly after seeing her stand up again on her own. Philip felt amazed and glanced back at Riven with clear respect. "T-That was amazing, sir! It really worked!"

"Of course it did," Riven nodded. "Now, I want you to not spread any rumors about this. And don’t tell anybody else that I helped you."

"Why?" wondered Clair. "I mean... you don’t want fame?"

"I’d prefer to keep a low profile," said Riven simply.

The young hunters were taken aback by his words, but Emma insisted with determination.

"Please at least let us help you clear the dungeon? We want to help you, to repay you for what you did...!"

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