Chapter 53: Until The Second Boss

POV Eliza

My day in the hero group came to an end and I was very happy with it. I couldn't see any major mistakes on my part and could find a good answer to every question. That evening I had moved to another inn in another part of town. As long as I was part of the group of heroes, I had to maintain my identity as Liss. That's why Eliza, the adventurer, had to disappear from the scene. I had moved to the Big Jug, an inn that was often used by traders. I was sitting in the dining room and my food was in front of me, still untouched. I remembered the evenings with the young wolves. It had only been a week or so, but I already missed them. Especially Lynn, even though I couldn't make sense of the girl. Many of their actions made no sense to me, but I couldn't find any explanation either. The only thing I was aware of was my loneliness. And the prospect of becoming part of the heroes in the near future almost made me depressed. But I knew that any information about the heroes would improve my chance of survival. So I steeled myself and gave myself courage. Tomorrow decided what to do next.

POV Cornelius

We sat in our dining room and discussed the subject of Liss. I wanted to hear everyone's opinion and assessment.

“So, what do you think? Should she become part of our group or should we continue looking?” <Cornelius>

"I like her. She did an impeccable job in the dungeon. I have nothing against it.” <Ansgar>

“Hmm, she seems very suitable. I find it amazing how well suited she is, but she lives up to her class. I’m for it too.” <Javier>

“Does it really have to be a woman? I don’t think that’s good.” <Eleonore>

“Are you in favor if I promise you that I definitely won’t take her into my harem?” <Cornelius>

“Hmph, I’m outvoted anyway. Do whatever you want.” <Eleonore>

“Then it’s decided. She becomes part of our group. But that brings us directly to the next point. Should we equip them better?” <Cornelius>

“Give her a new spear. That should be enough for now. I wouldn't buy anything extra, but if she's still part of us when we go back to the capital, we can talk about it again." <Ansgar>

“Hmm, that sounds good. Agreed. “<Javier>

“Okay, then the last point. How long do we want to stay here?” <Cornelius>

“Hmm, we still have a few weeks until the start of winter. I suggest we try to get as deep into the dungeon as we can and then return to the capital. Shall we take Liss with us then?” Javier

“We ask her. If she wants to spend the winter with her family, she should do that. If she wants to stay with us, I have nothing against it. But we have to go back to the academy in winter, she can't come with us. We would then have to find another job for her.” <Cornelius>

"No I do not want to. I was outvoted in accepting her, but I don't want to have her with me through the winter. I refuse.” <Eleonore>

“Then there’s nothing we can do. Let’s do it. Eli, calm down. Then we tell her to contact us in the spring. Any further objections?” <Cornelius>

No one had any further objections and we met the next day. She was very grateful that we were accepting her into our group, as we should. She also gratefully accepted the equipment we gave her. We told her that she would accompany us for another five weeks and then we would return to the capital. She should go to the capital in the spring and join us again there. Then our journey continued. And so that we don't waste any time in the morning, we put them up here in the hotel. She should get her things and then meet us for dinner. Then we went through what to do next.

Over the next two weeks we fought our way through the next five levels to the next boss. We met butterflies and caterpillars, wolves, orcs, bears and, at the end, even walking trees. The butterflies were annoying by confusing us, but Eli has a counterspell to that status effect. The wolves came in larger packs and presented the first real challenge for us. But in the end they were just animals and therefore stupid. The orcs were classic opponents for every role player, but also just stronger goblins. They didn't pose much of a threat to us. The Bears were solo opponents and very strong. But we learned quickly and our coordination got better and better. The treants were very annoying as their armor was very strong. But they were slow and sensitive to fire. Javier and Ansgar were our match winner here. Liss kept up well, but no wonder, anyone could look good under my leadership. Because she mastered the water healing magic herself, we only saw a few wounds on her. Otherwise her magic skills were only weakly developed, so she couldn't do much with her MP. Maybe we should take care of this next spring in the capital and train them better.

So we stood in front of the second boss room. We got our usual buffs from Eli and Javier and entered the room. I was curious to see who the tree would be. I hoped it wasn't the tree, that would be hard. In the middle the air shimmered and the monsters appeared. A quick look showed me that the boss was an orc. He carried a large jagged curved sword and a rusty metal breastplate. A tough and worthy opponent. Now I could show how good I had become.

“I’ll take over as boss. Keep the rest away from me.” Cornelius

I took my sword and shield and faced the orc.

POV Eliza

So now I was standing with the heroes in front of the second boss. This time it was an orc. The narcist ahem knight probably wanted to face him alone, he should do it. That leaves the minions for us. I had already found out that as long as no instructions came, I could choose my opponents myself. I just had to get into the fight quickly before anyone could say otherwise. I decided to focus on caterpillars. The priestess was disgusted by them and the barbarian would definitely chose the bears because they were the biggest opponents. I had to be careful not to be enchanted by the butterflies. Unfortunately, my Sense Magic skill wasn't high enough for me to notice when they were casting spells in time, but the priestess was able to heal us from the status effect. The better spear also helped me because my attacks hit more often and, above all, did more damage. Whenever I had the time and I noticed that the wizard was watching me, I would cast the water healing spell, even if I didn't need it. My regeneration skill wasn't allowed to stand out.

Once I had defeated my opponents, I looked around. The knight was still busy with his orc and the barbarian was charging at a treant. The wizard cast a spell and was distracted. The priestess lay beneath a growling wolf. I guess I had to help. So I rushed towards the wolf and rammed my spear deep into his side. He yelped and fell to the ground. After a second, quick stab, he was dead. I looked at the priestess, who was obviously scared and injured. So I cast a water healing spell on her and then turned back to the rest. But I didn't have to intervene anymore because the knight had finally defeated the orcs, even if he was badly injured. The last treant burst into flames after a fire spell and otherwise there was no enemy left. I heard a scream next to me and saw the priestess rush towards the knight in panic. She talked to him like a mother and cast one healing spell after another. Only after the knight brought her back to her senses did she calm down and heal herself.

In the meantime, I went to the chest that appeared. It took me 10 minutes to disarm the trap and open it. I took a quick look inside and stepped aside. When I saw that none of the heroes were coming my way, I went to the stele and touched it. I was slightly surprised because I saw a different sight than usual. I saw a selection of skills, including many that were not at level 10. How could that be? In addition to some expected physical skills such as Body Strengthening and Body Development, there were also many secondary skills and two resistances to choose from, Pain and Sleep. For most skills I was far from upgrading. I had hardly invested any EXP recently and therefore had a lot of unused EXP. I noticed that not all skills were available to choose from. Unfortunately there were no magic skill avaiable. Apparently my EXP wasn't enough for this or I didn't have the right type of magic for this dungeon. So I stayed true to my line from the first stele and chose resistance. I mentally selected Pain resistance and the selection in my head disappeared.

While I waited for new instructions from the heroes, I checked my status. I saw that I had advanced pain resistance. I wasn't missing many EXP, but what was more important in this case was the loss of need for an instructor. I did't knew till now how to upgrade a resistance. Then I got my development point and therefore had 2. I was happy with my development and looked positively into the future, even if I had to continue to endure the heroes. But they helped me a lot and I hoped I could benefit even more from them. Better than fighting alone.