Chapter 120: The Possibilities Of My New Spells

POV Eliza

In the remaining days until the heroes returned, I went into the dungeon solo again. My aim was to collect as many EXP as possible so that I could continue to level up. It was a good idea to leave the monster corpses lying around and only take a few monster cores with me. It took far too long to take all the valuable parts with me and sell them in Tyros. I could also use the money, but the EXP were more important. In addition, my carrying capacity was limited and almost all the monster parts were too heavy and bulky. I had learned a few spells from Master Freyna that I couldn't use to their full potential at the moment. I wanted to use the EXP to increase my Shadow Magic to have more effective tools. I also needed to improve Mana Control for this.

The question remained as to which floor I should go for. The slimes could now perform their elemental attack as a ranged attack, just as the spiders could now spit their poison. It currently took me a day to defeat most of the beetles or spiders, unless others beat me to it. I had recently learned a spell in dark magic that I could use to give my weapon extra damage. In theory, I could use it to defeat the slimes on floor 21, but they were still hardly worth the effort.

What I also noticed was the ongoing change in my fighting style. As my regeneration improved, I relied on it more and more. As a result, I sacrificed defense in exchange for more ruthless attacks. To minimize the damage, I increased my Evade skill instead. I don't know how long this will last before I get into real trouble.

I also stayed in the dungeon for a few days at a time without returning to Tyros. This supported my advance in the dungeon. As a result, I cleared floors 22 (with the beetles), 23 (with the spiders) and 24 (with the goblins) almost every three days. Finally, I defeated a few more vines and then made my way back to Tyros.

But in the late afternoon of the penultimate day, before I was to meet the heroes again, I noticed four very familiar auras approaching me. I was just at one end of the floor with the beetles and close to the portal to floor 23. I had just made a short detour to the spiders and returned to the beetles. I concentrated on all my senses and examined the four presences, two of them with strong magic. I hid in the shade of a tree with the spell and waited for them to come closer.

I saw the four heroes appear in sight. I had expected them, but what were they doing here? Unfortunately, I couldn't hear them. I kept my sense of sight, but lost my hearing. I wasn't good enough at the spell to add more senses. I wish I had increased it before. It's too late now.

The heroes looked around and then walked past. She kept pointing at the monster corpses. Were they looking for the cause of all the dead bugs? Well, bad luck, I was quicker.

As they moved away, I stepped out of the shadows and followed them into sight. They stopped just before the portal down, but then didn't go any further. I guess they weren't interested in the spiders today, which I couldn't understand. With a decent resistance to poison, they were largely harmless. I waited until they had disappeared again and then went back to the spiders. I didn't want to stay near the heroes any longer.

The poison from the spiders was just strong enough to give me the poisoned, medium status effect for a short time. However, I didn't suffer any damage as my regeneration was stronger. I spent a few more hours with the spiders, but then left the dungeon. The encounter with the heroes had spoiled my enjoyment of fighting. I still had one more day tomorrow before sunday, but I would use it for other things. I could spend more time with Lirella. The thought made me smile.

It was afternoon when I stepped outside. There were no soldiers at the entrance, so the heroes weren't inside. In Tyros, I went to sleep before I went to the guild. I only sold some of the monster cores. On the one hand, gold was heavier and on the other, I was sure to get more for it in the capital. So I didn't need that much cash. Afterwards, I prepared to face the heroes the next day.

Then it was sunday and I joined the heroes. There we were divided into new groups, six of us this time. The only one I knew was Ezekiel. I could have done a lot worse, as he was capable. So I didn't stand out. We were given the task of taking the heroes in our group to the fourth boss room. There we were supposed to win the fight and protect the heroes. Of course, we all had to survive. Each group was to take the heroes to the boss room on a different day and our group was to start tomorrow.

We met early in the morning and were provided with horses. That meant we got to the dungeon faster. We made good progress inside thanks to Ezekiel. He changed our formation depending on the type of monster and my main tasks, apart from healing, were the butterflies. Overall, however, we avoided most of the monsters so that we arrived at the fourth boss cave relatively unscathed. The third boss cave before that was defeated without any problems.

We cast the buffs on ourselves that we could, and even get another one from the heroes. During the fight, we took the heroes in the middle and fought the monsters ourselves. I cast wind magic on the butterflies to bring them down. After that, the only thing left to do was to disorientate the other monsters with blasts of wind so that the others could defeat them. But the others in the group were able to excel here, so I didn't have to engage in close combat.

We were victorious and the heroes didn't take any damage. We didn't get to see the contents of the chest, as that wasn't part of our task and none of us had the necessary skills or, in my case, wanted to use them. I didn't increase anything on the stele because I didn't want to increase any skills with it. I had all the skills on advanced, which I could only increase with a stele. The few exceptions I had just learned or had never boosted before.

Back on the surface, we were told to come back at the end of the week. We also all received a letter saying that we had been put on a kind of card index in the capital. Whenever an expedition was launched from the capital to another dungeon, anyone from the card index could join. This was very interesting, as I could use the logistics of the heroes at any time. However, this meant that I had to visit the capital regularly to hear about such calls. The worst thing about it was that I had to become a Stevt. Being a man was still disturbing.

After that, I finally got around to what I had been wanting to do for a long time. I wanted to test some spells and what they were capable of. To do this, I went back into the dungeon. I took several days' worth of food with me again, just in case. I looked for a quiet corner near the spiders.

The first spell I tested was summoning. The monsters I was able to summon were random and weak. And it was always just one. Sobering, and the first one simply disappeared as soon as I summoned a new one. There might have been better options, but it was of little use. So far, they could attack and protect. A test with slimes showed that they could be injured by my monster. At least some success.

The second spell I tested was my new shadow move. I had already tested to hide in a shadow against the heroes and it was very useful. Now I wanted to test the better variant. But first I had to increase my mana control to tier 3. This meant I could go into any shadow and move as far as the shadow would reach. I wondered what would happen to me if the shadow I was in moved away. Could I move with it or would I just be thrown out?

Then, by chance, adventurers came along and passed close to me. I took the opportunity and changed into the shadow of one of them. I was actually able to keep up with the shadow, but I felt that if I stopped too long, I would involuntarily leave the shadow. It also cost me MP permanently as I had to keep the spell active. After a short time, the group went to the portal and I was automatically left behind. Important information.

During my time in the adventurer's shadow, I had also tested which skills I could use. I could use both Life Steal and Mana Steal. Very useful.

I could even cast other shadow spells in the shadows. All the others didn't work. I wondered if I was considered part of the party while in their shadow. Did I also get EXP or even the rewards for defeating a boss? Then I could run in a group without being exposed to danger. I had to try out what part I had to play to make this work. Perhaps casting a spell on one of the monsters or casting a spell on my shadow owner would be enough. Although that could only be a curse, as I couldn't cast Air Magic. It was a difficult decision as to whether the risk was worth it, especially as there was always the risk of being discovered.

I was so curious about the result that I hid right in front of the fourth boss. As soon as a suitable group came by and was distracted, I would immediately hide in one of their shadows. I was curious to see who came by and whether I could actually participate in the work of others.