The werewolf had entered the second phase, using the Skill [Bloodlust] in order to massively improve its physical attributes. Seeing his veins threatening to explode because of how hard it flexed its muscles, I steadied myself in preparation for the attack that was about to come.
*GRRRR! Don!*
A powerful shockwave burst out from its hind legs as it lunged forward, its right hand ready to claim the life of sub-me. This was where I had to somehow make a decision. Fight or flight, to either use [Swap] or press the button we were given to call for help, or recall Matt and use my all to bring the boss down.
However, even in this life-threatening situation, I couldn't stop myself from smiling as I felt my heartbeat speed up. Could I really call myself a Trickster if I didn't use all the tricks up my sleeves?
"[Dome of Mist]!" The familiar cloud appeared around us once more, as I had just withdrawn sub-me right before I would get mauled by the huge claws aiming to rip my head off. Knowing that the werewolf wouldn't just stand still, I quickly activated the [Ring of Ascension] that I got from the fat rat, not caring about just how wasteful it truly was.
****
[Sophie's Pov]
We had arrived in front of the boss's cave pretty quickly, as the wolves who stood in our way didn't stand much of a chance against us. Not only because I was strong, but because the wolves couldn't risk letting me move around freely, as it would lead to their deaths.
So while the wolves had to focus their attention on me, the rest of my party could easily get into optimal positions to launch their attacks. Bellatrix using her ultra-long range, as her specialty while using the bow was sniping from afar, while Adam could get to their backs and inflict critical attacks with his daggers.
Also, we had John who... I'm not sure. I think he was sending out some wind blades every now and then.
Eating the last bit of yet another power bar, I turned to my party, making sure we talked through the plans we would go with when fighting against the boss. After spending the last four hours continuously fighting together, the mood had gotten quite a bit more amicable, though Bellatrix still acted like an angry child at times.
"Adam, do you want us to bait him out of the cave first? I'm guessing you need to free up your moment."
Nodding his head, Adam confirmed my inquiry, "That would be good. I don't know if I could get to his back in the cave. However, this means that the boss will also be able to move a lot more freely, do you still think you can keep its attention? Your body is already hurt, after all."
It was true. My large body hadn't gone unscathed from our battles, and although the injuries had been minor, they had slowly been building up throughout our dive. Still, this was nothing compared to when I had fought Sebastian or the Monastery boss. So even though my own blood was scattered across my body, I was fine to keep on fighting.
Letting out a gentle smile to show him that I was fine, I urged my party on to start the fight, "It's fine. So, are you all ready? Bella, please start by baiting him out with an arrow. While he is running toward us, I want you and John to launch as many attacks as possible before I engage."
"Tsk! Fine... But don't forget that it's only for this dive! As soon as we get out of here, I'm not going to listen to your stupid orders!"
Bellatrix just couldn't accept that a commoner took command, even though the society of Mensch had gotten a lot more meritocratic during the last 50 years. After all, just because one was born into a noble house didn't automatically make them an elite.
"Haaa... Sure. Let's just finish this then so we can get out of here."
Looking at the brat, I couldn't help but let out a sigh. Still, it was a pretty good improvement that she didn't actively try to hinder me from leading the group at the expense of the party.
****
[Sarah's Pov]
"Where is the boss? Shouldn't he be here?"
Something weird had, indeed, happened. Having arrived at the cave where the werewolf should be located, we had instead been met by a completely empty cavern with no boss in sight.
To my question, Sebastian just shook his head, "I have no idea. The one thing I know is that he isn't here. That means that he must have left and entered the forest."
The athletic body of his started to move quickly, while still making sure not to waste energy by running and also making sure I could keep up. At the same time, I could feel a seed of panic growing inside of my stomach.
"But James is alone in the forest! What if the boss for some reason attacks him?!"
Flinching for but a second at my sudden yelling, Sebastian stopped in his tracks, making sure to calm me down before we continued. It would be a huge detriment if the healer of the group wasn't mentally stable when fighting, after all.
"Sarah, it's fine. Even if he was stupid from the start by going out alone, he still has the means to contact Ms. Turner if the boss arrives. Also, as I already said, he made the choice by himself. You seem to believe that he is pretty strong, wouldn't that mean that he should have some tools that could save him if needed? Now, get your head back into the game, we are still in a dungeon!"
Although I understood that he tried to calm me down, the frustration he felt that James had gone on his own shone through his words, even if he tried to repress it. However, he was right. If nothing absurd happened, James would surely just call for help. After all, what kind of person would try to kill a boss of the same rank as oneself?
Granted, the higher rank of a boss, the bigger the disparity from a normal hunter, but that didn't mean that even lower rank bosses weren't a lot stronger than hunters. It was a question of; If an [E]-rank boss might need between three and five hunters to bring down, an [A]-rank boss might need up to fifteen or twenty people.
Lowering my head, I was forced to accept our leader's reasonable words, "Okay... I understand. I'm sorry, it won't happen again."
The few weeks I had spent in the academy had led me to act in ways unbecoming for a princess more times than I could count, and I knew that most of these situations had been created by my fascination with James.
It wasn't love, that I was sure of, but it wasn't as simple as wanting to become his friend either. That was evident by the fact that when night arrived, his face would emerge in my mind, and my thighs would start heating up as an itch in my lower regions grew...
I might be inexperienced in the ways of romance, but there was no way I didn't know what those signs meant, even if they were unbecoming for a princess.
While we continued making our way back into the forest, it was still hard to keep my emotions in check, as a nagging feeling of worry couldn't leave my mind.
*BOOOM!!!*
And as if to confirm my feelings, a huge mushroom cloud appeared between the trees, complementing the huge explosion that had just gone off.
Turning his head back to us, Sebastian spoke quickly, "Let's hurry up, James might be in trouble."
This time, we ran with all our might, although for different reasons. 'Please be safe!'
****
[James's Pov]
'So how does this thing work...?'
I had already activated the ring, making it disintegrate as its ability took effect. However, there was no way for me to practice it beforehand, thus I had to speedily try and get a feel for it.
*AWOOO!*
Naturally, the boss wouldn't let me, howling away the mist that surrounded us and lunging towards me with extreme speed. 'Fuck!'
*Bam!*
"Gah!" Even though I managed to raise my scythe and defend against his swipe, my body still flew through the air, unable to withstand the power even though I tried my best to redirect the force, which only served as to make sure I dropped my weapon.
'Cmon! How does this shit work?! FUCK!'
Before I could collect myself, the wolf was upon me, ready to tear my head off with his huge, ebony claws. Curling my body, I made sure to not instantly die. *Bam!* "Urgh!"
Once more, my body went tumbling, pain surging through my body as I felt an intense heat building up in my back. And right there, something clicked. As if my mind automatically learned how to use the effect from the ring.
"[Dome of Mist]!"
*Grro?*
My safe space once again came out, leaving me with dangerously low amounts of mana, but I didn't care. I only needed one shot after all, as long as the werewolf would run into it, following his instincts to get rid of his injured enemy.
Luckily for me, he did. He entered the mist in sync with me crawling out of it, hidden from his eyes as I was on the other side.
'Eat this, you fucking dog! [Detonate]!'
*BOOOM!!!*
"Hahaha! Get fucked, you shitty dog!"
With my body still locked to the ground, I was filled with an insane sense of euphoria, having been able to lure the stupid animal into the mist that held the ability I was granted by my artifact.
[Ring of Ascension]
Description: A strange ring dropped by the Kobold Foreman. Let's the user's Manual temporarily increase to the next level of Understanding.
The description was simple yet very transparent. It just allowed me to use the Skill I would get from having an [Major] Understanding of the [Trickster] Manual, which in this case was [Detonate].
Just like before, I had no idea what the Skill would look like when I used the ring and artificially increased my Understanding, as there were four different Skills one would get when reaching level 50 in the game. Still, I was certain that it would be an offensive ability, as three out of those four were combat-related Skills.
However, although [Detonation] sounded pretty straightforward, it was hard to feel how the detonation would occur. As it turns out, it wasn't based on fire, as one would intuitively assume. Instead, it was just a physical detonation, where a pulse of pressure would get sent out from the element or clones I decided to detonate.
And as the boss had been in the middle of my mist, already injured from my earlier attacks, there was no chance of survival as its body got ripped into pieces, making its flesh spread out in chunks around the trees.
It was lucky that the werewolf wasn't as sturdy as the skeleton bishop, or it might have survived and rid me of my life as I was now completely defenseless, unable to even press the button to call for help. There was now zero mana to fuel my body, after all.
'I'll guess I'll just sleep for a moment and hope I don't get torn into pieces by any wolves...'
Just as my eyes were closing, a worried voice could be heard from a distance.
"JAMES!"
****
[Sarah's Pov]
'What happened?!'
We arrived in a small glade covered in blood with body parts spread around, the painting crowned by a big crater in the middle.
On the side of it, James was lying on the ground, unconscious and limp, "JAMES!"
Running passed my party members, who were still hesitant to enter the battlefield, I ran over and checked on James's state.
'His back is completely torn apart...'
When I turned his frail body, my eyes were met by a hideous sight. His whole back was ripped up with three huge gashes, almost reaching his bones.
"[Healing Winds]!"
I didn't waste any time before I sent out the green winds to heal him, and although the bleeding stopped, it was nowhere near enough to completely restore him.
Therefore, I turned to my party, with urgency coloring my voice, "We have to take him out of the dungeon! He needs medical attention from an expert!"
However, the response I got from our leader wasn't what I expected.
"Tsk! We still haven't killed the boss! How can we retreat now?! Just keep him alive for now, we will carry him back after we are done!"
His eyes were screaming with the determination to not give up until he had brought down the boss, but to me, it was madness.
"What are you talking about?! He might die! I don't care what stupid ideas you have in your head, I won't let James die!"
Having already decided, I started to bring my hand towards the button on my belt. "Don't you fucking dare!" "Ugh!" Before I managed to request help, he somehow grabbed my hand, making me unable to move it.
"What are you doing, Sebastian?!"
"I'm doing what I have to do! This is all his own fault in the first place! If he didn't want to die, he shouldn't have gone by himself!"
Holding my hand in an iron grip, the man in front of me appeared to have gone insane. "So you are ready to sacrifice his life because you don't agree with his decision?!"
"I AM READY TO LET HIM DIE BECAUSE OF HIS OWN ACTIONS, AS LONG AS I CAN KILL THAT DAMN BOSS WITH MY OWN HANDS!"
The man was truly insane, his face warping completely in anger. He was scary, frightening even, as he seemed completely obsessed with his inner desires.
"Guys... Stop it. Look around you.
Suddenly, a rare voice rang out, saving me from my distress as tears were starting to form in my eyes.
Turning his head toward Trisha, Sebastian's agitation didn't calm down in the slightest.
"What are you talking about?! She is trying to stop us from clearing the dungeon!"
Trisha just let out a sigh, as she pointed to one of the pieces of flesh on the ground, "Haa... It's too late, Sebastian. The boss is already dead. Can't you see that the head is lying right there?"
Both of us focused our gazes, finally noticing the wolf-like head that was too big to be a part of one of the normal monsters.
Releasing me from his grasp, the purple-haired maniac accepted the situation eerily fast.
"Tsk! Fine. Let's get out of here."
It was a complete shift in dynamic, going from completely furious and frenzied, back to the calm and neutral state he almost always was in.
'What is wrong with him...'
Not wanting to accidentally trigger him again, I bit my tongue and started to grab James in my arms. Lifting him up, I couldn't help but be surprised. 'He is so light...'
It wasn't weird for a woman to be strong enough to carry a man, but somehow I was almost sure that the man in my arms weighed less than me. It was just so bizarre how someone so frail could be so strong, even managing to bring down the boss by himself.
However, this time my cheeks didn't flush while thinking of how amazing the man was. Instead, I couldn't help but think of how pathetic I was. I had performed badly in both of the ranking events, justifying it by telling myself that I'm a healer, and that was why I was so weak. But if James, who was probably physically weaker than me, could become strong, why couldn't I?
Therefore, I made a promise to myself. A promise both in order to get to stay in the same world as him, but also a promise for my own sake.
'I need to become stronger...'
****
[Sophie's Pov]
"Well done! You even managed to bring down the boss, very well done, you guys!"
When we met up with Mr. Brown and showed him a fang from the boss, which was made intentionally to be retrievable, his face lit up with pride. "Now, let's get out of here!" Walking behind our teacher, I thought back at the fight we had just concluded.
The werewolf had been pretty powerful, but thanks to the fact that we could always keep him busy with arrows and backstabs, it had been a simple fight. A lot thanks to the fact that he wasn't as strong as the skeleton bishop, meaning I could fight him head-on on almost equal terms.
Even when he had become enraged, it was still just a matter of keeping him busy so my party could launch attacks freely at him. Oh, and John helped a bit too.
Making our way through the portal, I readied myself for the slight feeling of nausea that was about to hit me. *Woam!*
On the other side, back at the academy, I was expecting to see the other two groups waiting for us, with James's party still struggling with the boss. In terms of combat efficiency, I didn't hesitate to believe that my group was superior, as James wasn't necessarily suited to fighting with a group.
However, what met our eyes was something completely outside of my expectation.
James was lying in the middle of the room with some person in a white coat continuously sending out purple pulses of energy that appeared to repair his body. On the side stood all the other students and Ms. Turner, making sure to keep an appropriate distance and make space for the medic.
In the group, Sarah was standing with tears falling from her eyes, as Arthur had his hand on her shoulder in an attempt to comfort her.
"What happened?!"
I was unable to stop myself from yelling, making Ms. Turner quickly make her way to me and lead me to the side to explain. "Mr. Jackson received a pretty grave injury. Thankfully, they made it here in time for him to get emergency treatment, so his condition is completely stable. There is nothing to worry about."
Even with her reassuring words, I couldn't help but feel an agonizing mental torment. Looking at the man who had so often acted like he had everything under control, at all times, lying unconscious on the floor was insane. "How did that happen?!"
Scratching her head, Ms. Turner looked a bit ashamed as she spoke, "It turns out that he defeated the werewolf by himself, and when his party found him, he was already unconscious. That's all we know."
Turning my head back to the insane idiot, it was hard for me not to tear up like Sarah.
'You fucking stupid goblin! I swear to god, when you wake up, I'll make you wish you didn't!'
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