The stairway led to a door that opened into a stone hallway, ending with a set of massive double doors. Beyond them was the boss chamber.Once they stepped inside, the battle would begin immediately, so they performed one final check.
Then Bastion pushed open the doors.
The stone chamber beyond was more narrow than the hallway and dimly lit by torchlight around the walls. Ten heavily armored goblins stood in formation, and behind them was a goblin in rags holding a bone staff, a goblin shaman.
But something was wrong with it.
"Wh-Why is there a Rank 1 goblin shaman in an Apprentice Rank dungeon?" Lilia asked, panic rising in her voice.
"The add-ons are fully armored too," Bastion noted grimly.
Elyra had already vanished into the shadows, preparing her ambush.
"The plan doesn't change. Stay alive, Lilia," Bastion said before charging in.
"Bastion, wait—!" Lilia shouted, but it was too late.
Charge!
Bastion rushed in, only to be met by the ten goblins forming a shield wall. A radiant glow washed over them as their defenses were magically enhanced.
Still, Bastion pressed forward. He activated Reinforce and slammed into them with Shield Bash. Along with the initial Charge, the applied force would have sent them flying.
BANG!
The clash rang out like a thunderclap. The goblins winced under the blow, but the formation held.
'Shared defense? Or shared damage? Either way, I'm not breaking through,' Bastion thought.
He considered circling around, but that would leave Lilia vulnerable and expose him to the shaman and his back to the goblins. It wasn't worth the risk.
Time for a change in tactics.
"Plan B!" he shouted.
He slammed his shield forward again, channeling mana into the ground beneath the goblin's feet, softening it. Then he backed off.
The goblins advanced to corner him, but the six in the middle stumbled, creating a gap on both flanks.
Bastion struck immediately.
His whip sword lashed out at the left side, coiling around a goblin's neck. With a sharp tug, the goblin's head flew off, bringing the number down to nine.
The six goblins in the center slogged through the mud to close the gap. One from the rear stepped up to replace the fallen.
Bastion noticed the top of the formation was exposed.
He lassoed the dissipating corpse of the goblin he'd just killed, swung it overhead, and used Smash, slamming the body down onto the center of the formation, crushing two of the six central goblins.
The remaining goblins roared in fury and charged, trying to circle him while still glowing from their earlier buff.
"Lilia, target the flanks!" Bastion commanded.
Lilia responded instantly, firing Ice Arrows at both sides, slowing their movement.
Meanwhile, Bastion activated Diamond Armor. His armor and shield were suddenly encased in thick diamond, drastically increasing their weight. However, the added weight was negligible compared to his strength, and he moved without difficulty.
He shrugged off blow after blow from the five enraged goblins, while those attempting to flank him were frozen in place by Lilia's relentless bombardment. He managed to Slash down two goblins bringing their numbers down to five.
Three stood at the front, and two frozen ones remained at his flank. The battle was going well.
Then, the glow surrounding the goblins flickered before vanishing. Their enhancement had ended.
Bastion grinned.
Plan B had worked.
Charge! Reinforce! Shield Bash!
He tore into the remaining goblins, one after another, until none were left standing.
At last, he turned toward the back of the room and saw the dissipating corpse of the goblin shaman, headless.
Elyra's ambush had succeeded.
It hadn't been explicitly planned, but Elyra was a smart girl. She knew what Plan B meant.
Bastion walked over to the dissipating corpse, expecting some loot, when he spotted Elyra unconscious beside it.
He rushed to her side immediately, feeding her a health potion, then a stamina and mana potion, but she didn't wake up.
Examining her closely, he noticed the singed edges of her uniform. Removing her clothes, he saw branching red patterns trailing across her chest, arms, and feet. They were Lichtenberg scars, the telltale sign of a lightning strike. She must have taken a direct hit from a lightning spell.
But that didn't make sense. She had managed to behead the goblin shaman. There was no way she could've been hit by a spell if her ambush had been clean.
"Lightning Barrier," Lilia said, kneeling by Elyra's side.
Elyra must have forced her way through the barrier and executed the goblin with her Garrote, enduring the spell's full force in the process.
"She'll live," Lilia said gently. "The shock should wear off in a few minutes."
"Thank you," Bastion murmured, his voice heavy with guilt.
He had rushed the fight. There was no doubt in his mind. He should have been the one to take on the shaman. Elyra could have helped Lilia deal with the formation instead.
"I apologize for ignoring you earlier, Lilia."
"No, my advice would have been to retreat," she said with a small smile. "Thinking back, your judgment was right. This is just an Apprentice Rank dungeon. Even if the shaman was Rank 1, he would have been the weakest Rank 1 around. Just look at Elyra, she managed to survive just fine while executing the shaman in one ambush."
"We did fine. She'll be fine. Her scars should heal once she recovers from the status effect. Relax, Bastion. We did good," she consoled.
She ran a soft stream of water magic across Elyra's scars.
"What are you doing?" Bastion asked, curious.
"My class added the Healing attribute to my water magic. It won't remove status effects, but it might help."
Bastion's eyes widened. Healing magic outside the church? That was unheard of. The clergy had a tight grip on the healing arts, practically monopolizing the entire profession. Even potions weren't considered real competition; they were too expensive compared to a visit to a priest.
Potions were best used for emergencies. Even then, hiring a priest for an expedition was cheaper than getting potions for the entire party.
Lilia was an absolute treasure, worth dying for. He had to have her.
"Are you sure you don't want to marry me? You'll be well provided for and free to do as you please most of the time. I'll even buy you all the skills and spells you could ever want from the Mages Guild. Getting to Rank 2 would be a breeze, and you'd get to travel the world with me once certain conditions are met."
"I… I'll think about it," she hesitated.
"Take all the time you need. Just let me know if you plan on leaving me. I'll double anyone's offer for your services or hand in marriage. I'll also let you in on a massive secret once we graduate."
"What massive secret? I'll consider it further if you tell me," she said, batting her eyes at him.
"Can't say until after. I wouldn't want you to run away in fright."
"Now, you just want to scare me."
"I'm not telling you to avoid scaring you. It shouldn't be a big deal, though."
"The last time something wasn't a big deal, it turned out you were the heir to the Diamondhart dukedom. Whatever it is, it must be massive."
"Wait and see. All you need to know is that I will never let anything happen to you."
"Now, you're really terrifying me."
Amid their banter, Elyra stirred awake and smiled. She was glad she had gone through with the attack. Bastion and Lilia were unharmed, which meant her self sacrifice had been worth it.
She knew she could hold out long enough to execute the shaman with her twin swords while activating Garrote, but she hadn't been sure if the lingering damage would be fatal.
"Hey, Eli. How are you feeling?" Bastion asked with a gentle smile.
"No lingering damage. No aftereffects. Ready for combat, Master."
"Good. It hurt me to see you injured, Eli. But as your Master, good job. You performed your duty perfectly."
"Thank you, Master," she replied with a blooming smile.
Bastion debated whether to reinforce this behavior of self-sacrifice, but following orders was quite literally what wolfkin like Elyra lived for. So, he gave her the praise she deserved and silently promised himself he'd use her more wisely next time. He owed it to her overwhelming devotion to do better, to be the kind of master she deserved.
"So, what kind of loot did we get?" Bastion asked, trying to lighten the mood as Elyra slipped into a fresh maid outfit.
"A bone staff and a bone necklace. Both Rank 1 and enhance magic damage," Lilia reported after appraising them.
"You can have both, then."
"These would sell for a few platinum, you know."
"You think I need platinum coins?" Bastion asked, raising an eyebrow.
"Good point," she replied, tucking them away.
"I'll also be covering your education from now on. Eli, make sure she's registered as my attendant and handle the payments for all her future classes. Give her a generous allowance, as well."
"Yes, Master," Elyra replied.
Lilia, meanwhile, let out a sigh of relief. She no longer had to worry about money and could even send some to her parents. They could use the extra funds for their retirement.
After gathering the spare iron from the goblins' armor, they continued down the stairway behind the goblin shaman and found the teleportation circle that would take them back to the surface. The school typically placed one in the stairway, as it usually remained fixed unless the entire dungeon concept shifted after an overflow.
Once they made it back to the surface, they showed the bone staff and explained the situation. Apparently, they weren't the only ones who had to fight Rank 1 enemies, as quite a few students had died recently. However, several parties had survived their encounters.
One such party had even faced off against demon worshipers, and Bastion didn't need to be a genius to figure out which party that was.
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