Chapter 545 - 10 Undine

A blue portal is visible. Entering it leads to a dungeon in the form of a portal that transports you to a completely different dimension.

"Ready?"

They nodded silently and followed Terry slowly. Once all six of them were inside, the portal door closed. This dungeon has a population limit of six.

The inside of the dungeon is an extremely lush forest, surrounded by tree-like monsters called Dendroids and Dendroid Soldiers.

They are not very strong, being the lowest ranks of D-grade and C-grade respectively. Moreover, adding wind magic to their weakness, fire magic, swept them away like fallen leaves.

"We’ll clear this easily. But let’s not be careless."

The reason Shara and the others hadn’t cleared the dungeon until now was probably because the Elves were all wind magic users.

Moreover, they were so large, exceeding 3 meters in height, that attacking them with arrows would have been of little use.

Terry’s group advanced without hesitation and soon reached the deepest part of the dungeon. There, stood a woman of beautiful appearance.

Beside her, C-grade Dendroid Guards and Dendroid Soldiers stood as if to protect her.

"Is that the boss monster? She’s pretty... Is that really a monster?"

She looked more like a human than a monster or spirit, with long green hair and a completely bare body, though her long hair covered all her vital parts.

[Black]

[Status Window]

Name: Marcella

Traits: Mana (C), Regeneration (C)

Skills: None

’What? She’s incredibly weak?’

<Please kill them for me.>

’What?!’

It felt like a strange voice and energy were digging into my head, so I shook my head urgently to chase away the energy, but in the meantime, a sword was stabbed into my back.

"Ugh!!"

"Terry!Terry!"

The culprit was Peter.

"Why...!"

"Hehehe, I will kill all those who target our Marcella!"

Fortunately, I avoided a fatal wound, so I regained my stance. I didn’t know what happened, but I had to subdue Peter first.

He was too close, so the rest of the group, who specialized in ranged attacks, couldn’t help me rashly.

"Don’t worry about me, deal with those guys first!"

I shouted, pointing to the Dendroids who were trying to attack us in the midst of our confusion. Shara fired magic arrows, and Marinna summoned Undine, then used Spirit Assimilation to merge with the spirit and cast water magic.

Each of them unleashed attacks on the monsters coming towards us in their own way.

’Why is the Subordination undone? It’s not undone, is it another magic spell?’

But when I checked Marcella’s status window, she had no other skills. But how... No, I definitely felt a strange energy flowing in earlier. It was like a type of Subordination.

Could it be something like hypnosis? If she had a skill, she could use magic as easily as if it were a power, but it also depends on the race’s characteristics, and magic can be used like a skill through effort.

Judging from the boss monster’s appearance, she seems to be a spirit race called Dryad, and even without skills, that race itself seems to be able to use enchantment magic. It’s the same principle as how a Fairy can use sleep magic even without a sleep skill.

Peter and Terry’s swords clashed. I could have subdued him a long time ago, but because a sword was stabbed in my back, it hurt every time I moved, and my stamina and concentration were greatly reduced.

’I need to end this quickly.’

Fortunately, I was attacked as soon as I arrived in the boss zone, so I hadn’t set a Plunder target.

I used the enhancement skill and wind attribute infusion simultaneously, waited for him to come, and then sword and sword collided once more.

I didn’t have any strength because I was ambushed, and Alfred was constantly healing Peter, as if he had also been affected by the Dryad’s magic.

’This won’t do. I need to heal first.’

I tried to create some distance between them and cast a healing spell, but he relentlessly pushed me without giving me time.

’Hoo, I have no choice. It’s all or nothing.’

It was still very painful, but I had recovered a little, so it was somewhat bearable. I infused the sword with the enhancement skill, fire magic, and wind magic simultaneously once more, and this time I put my full strength into accurately executing my swordsmanship, and sword and sword clashed.

"Hiyah!!"

Kang

Thanks to the enhanced sword, Peter’s sword shattered, and Peter, who had no means of defense, screamed as if giving up.

"Kuh!! Marcella, banzai!! Banzai!!"

"Shut up."

Thus, Peter’s head was severed by Terry’s sword. The enhancement skill was very impressive. It was only E-grade because I had learned it recently, but it was already this powerful.

Of course, the infusion of fire and wind attributes also played a big role.

[Acquired the trait Swordsmanship (C). There is not enough space. Please select a trait to replace.]

As for traits, the five slots were full with the Plundered traits: Dignity, and the four magics of Fire, Water, Earth, and Wind, so I had to discard one.

’Hmm... which one should I discard...’

I could get the remaining traits except for Dignity from monsters at any time, so I removed wind magic, which I didn’t need right now, and added swordsmanship.

Since I had dealt with Peter, it was easy to knock down Alfred, who had no means of attack. I tied him up and left him there, and quickly headed to help my companions.

Shara, Marinna, and Sophia were fighting the Dendroid Soldiers and Guards while unleashing magic. Shara’s wind magic enhanced Sophia’s fire magic, and since they were trees, they had almost no resistance to fire, so it seemed to be quite effective.

However, the Dendroid Soldiers were so tough that they were in pain but didn’t fall easily, so I rushed to help them. I was still in pain, but I had found some stability, so I joined them and cast enhancement on them.

"Fireball!"

"Tornado!"

When Terry, who had been enhanced, and Sophia’s fireball combined with Shara’s tornado magic, its power and size became several times larger than a normal fireball, turning into a powerful blaze that engulfed the enemies.

I used a lot of mana and was a little tired, but fortunately, the monsters began to be subdued one by one without much damage.

[Acquired the trait Regeneration (C).]

I decided to remember well that such powerful attacks could be produced depending on the compatibility and harmony of attributes.

It was a little difficult to concentrate because the Dryad kept casting her charm magic in the middle, but I was able to resist it safely thanks to my mental trait.

And finally, the boss monster, the Dryad, was left alone, and she was an easy opponent. She couldn’t defend herself and fell with a single strike of the sword, dying.

[Acquired the trait Mana (C).]

[Promoted to the job Fire Mage (D).]

[The conditions have been met. Would you like to combine Swordsman (C) and Fire Mage (D) into Magic Swordsman (C)?]

[Promoted to the job Magic Swordsman (C).]

’C-grade and D-grade are combined, but it goes up to C-grade? Is it rounding up?’

"Hoo, I didn’t really play a big role."

Marinna, who couldn’t exert her full strength in the previous battle, was a little disappointed.

After all, the effectiveness of water magic was bound to be greatly reduced due to the tree attribute.

"The Dryad could use charm magic. Why didn’t you tell me, Shara?"

"That’s... we’ve never been affected by that when we cleared it. The guardians protecting them were always the problem, and this is the first time this has happened to me."

"Ah, that was a Dryad? I’ve heard that Dryads can use magic to charm those who are attracted to them."

Sophia seemed to know that Dryads could use charm magic. But she didn’t recognize it because it was her first time seeing a Dryad.

Shara explained the information about the monsters in the dungeon, but she might not know each and every name of the monsters or spirits. This situation occurred because she didn’t know the name of the spirit Dryad.

That meant that if I didn’t have the Tenacity trait, I would have been highly likely to be affected by the charm magic, which sent shivers down my spine.

"By the way, Elves are amazing. Does that mean that none of the Elf men were attracted to that Dryad even after seeing her?"

"Our Elves mainly look at the heart rather than the appearance, so we don’t feel that way very much."

’Well, the Elves themselves are all so handsome and pretty, so that makes sense.’

"Um... what happened to Peter and Alfred?"

"Unfortunately, Peter was affected by the charm magic, so there was nothing I could do but end his life. Alfred is tied up over there."

"Oh my... what should we do... I’m sorry. Because of us, you lost your companions again..."

I wanted to say it was okay, but I decided to pretend to be sad because I thought they would see me as a guy without camaraderie if I said that.

"It’s a sad thing... let’s mourn them. Now, shall we check what the boss of this dungeon gives us?"

After clearing a dungeon, you get a reward. It could be equipment or an item, it varies from time to time. A portal appeared behind the Dryad that I had defeated.

"This is?"

When I examined the Dryad’s corpse, there was something that looked like a large spirit orb that the Dryad was holding earlier. While I was troubled because I didn’t know how to use it, Marinna spoke up.

"Wow, that’s an orb! Can you give it to me? If I have this, our Undine will become stronger!"

Undine is Marinna’s spirit, and it exhibits abilities close to C-grade on its own. Earlier, when the Dryad used this orb, the charm magic worked even from quite a long distance. That meant that the orb’s power was that strong.

"No, Marinna, I’ll give you another spirit orb that I collected. Let’s give this to Terry."

"Hing..."

"It’s okay, Shara. Here, Marinna, take this."

"Wow, really? You’re a good kid!"

"Instead, I have a favor to ask."

"Yeah. What is it?"

"Shara has decided to go on an adventure with me after this is resolved. Marinna, wouldn’t you like to come with us too? If Shara is okay with it, I’m always welcome. Well, the decision is up to you, Marinna."

"What!?"

Sophia was flustered. It was natural. Terry had unilaterally told the two of them without saying anything to her. Sophia had a complicated expression and was lost in thought.

However, she cherished her words without saying them separately due to the atmosphere in that situation.

"Wow, that would be really great. Marinna, let’s go together? It’ll be much more fun if we travel together."

"Oh! That sounds fun! It seems like there will be many fun things if I’m with you guys. I like it! I also get an orb."

Is anything okay as long as it’s fun? Peter died, but in conclusion, things were resolved well.

I got good traits, cleared the dungeon, and even gained powerful and pretty allies. Marinna seemed to have immediately informed her family through telepathy and received permission right away.

"I thought there would be some opposition from your family?"

"Yeah, but they quickly gave me permission because I said I was going with Shara?"

It seems that the Merfolk neglect their children. Or maybe they have a very deep trust in Shara.

Of course, they might not care much because she has become an adult, or maybe it’s just Marinna’s family that’s like that.

After defeating the boss and taking the unconscious Alfred, we took the portal and exited the dungeon.