When we reached the second floor of the dungeon, I started feeling really nervous. I kept following everyone, waiting for my chance to use my sword. After a few minutes, that moment finally came.
"Ethan," I heard Ais's voice.
"Alright." I took a few steps forward toward the goblins.
'Two goblins.'
Taking a deep breath, I raised my sword.
"Ethan, be careful. One of them has a knife," Tiona said, visibly worried about me. The corner of my lips curved upward as I slowly walked toward the goblins.
'It'll be fine, right? If something goes wrong, they'll help me.'
I looked back one last time to see how close they were.
Then I heard a scream.
Kiikkk~~
The goblins shrieked and charged at me. The one with the knife ran in front, while the other—empty-handed—showed its sharp claws capable of tearing through human flesh with ease.
I clicked my tongue and held my breath.
Then, everything around me slowed down.
Information started flooding into my mind.
Before I even realized it, I was already moving.
My arm swung at high speed, and the tip of my sword sliced through the goblin's neck, cutting deep. Blood sprayed out as the creature collapsed, its body turning into particles of light.
With no time to rest, the other goblin lunged at me, claws ready to rip me apart. I spun my body and kicked it in the stomach, sending it flying. Before it could get up, I rushed forward and drove my sword straight into its forehead.
It died instantly.
Wiping the sweat from my forehead, I picked up the two magic stones left on the ground.
"Wow, not bad! I'm surprised," Tiona said, clapping her hands.
"You've improved," Bete added.
Ais nodded silently, and then a system notification appeared before my eyes.
[ Ais Wallenstein's affection for you has increased! ]
[ 3 > 4 ]
I think I figured out how to raise her affection. I need to show strength.
But to show strength and impress her, I have to get stronger first.
I opened my status and noticed my stats had increased a bit after killing just two goblins.
Level 1
Strength (STR): G 299
Endurance (END): G 215
Dexterity (DEX): G 291
Agility (AGI): G 243
Magic (MAG): G 215
####
After that, I kept killing monsters continuously. As I did, Ais's affection kept rising. But once it reached 7, it stopped increasing.
'I guess it'll only go up if I kill stronger monsters.'
That makes sense considering one of Ais's hobbies:
"Fighting."
In other words, she loves to fight—and she likes strong people.
Speaking of which, that hobby hasn't leveled up yet. It's still level 1. Shouldn't it have gone up by now since I've killed so many monsters?
When we were close to reaching the third floor of the dungeon, we found three goblins fighting against a group of three people.
"They look like they need help," I asked Ais.
She stared at the three teenagers, who were quickly retreating.
Just as we were about to step in, one of the adventurers used a skill—his sword split a goblin clean in half. Then, the one behind him, wielding a spear, pierced another goblin's head.
In seconds, all three goblins were dead.
If they could kill them that easily, why were they backing away?
"Ethan, watch out." Ais suddenly grabbed my shoulder, pulling me back. I almost fell. A knife struck the ground where I had just been standing.
"Huh? Where did that come from?"
"..." Ais pointed to the side. There stood a kobold with glowing red eyes.
"He threw that?" The kobold's hands were empty. Was that thing really holding a knife? I didn't think kobolds used weapons like that.
I got up, irritated, and walked toward the kobold. I tried to intimidate it with my "aura," but I was too weak. Unlike Ais, I couldn't inspire fear just by standing there.
The kobold leapt at me like a rabid dog.
I tracked its movements easily and dodged.
As it passed me, it immediately jumped again—but this time, I thrust my sword up under its chin. The blade burst through the top of its head.
The kobold's body disintegrated into particles of light.
"Ah, damn it." When I looked at my sword again, I noticed it had cracked. The tip was already broken. "I need a new sword," I muttered with a sigh.
That's when Bete approached me.
"Here, take this." He handed me his knife. "Can you use it?"
"Yeah. Thanks." I smiled at him.
[ Bete Loga's affection for you has increased! ]
[ 13 > 14 ]
A chill ran down my spine as that system message appeared.
'Please, system—can I remove guys from the list!?'
#####
Hours passed, and after I got Bete's knife, I didn't fight any more monsters. Not that I didn't want to—I actually felt pretty confident—but Tiona thought it was better if I didn't.
I guess she doesn't trust me.
After we left the dungeon, we went straight to a restaurant. The sign out front read "Hostess of Fertility."
'I've seen that name before.' I think it's a famous place in the DanMachi world.
As soon as I stepped inside, I was amazed. The place was huge and packed. Almost every table was filled with adventurers who had just come from the dungeon.
We walked over to a large table while being watched by the other patrons.
'Our group really stands out.'
As I walked to my seat, I opened my status.
Information appeared above everyone's heads in the restaurant—but one in particular caught my eye. It was the information above one of the waitresses.
Name: Freya
Difficulty: Nearly impossible
Relationship: This person knows you
'Freya?'
####
I'll post two chapters of this fanfic per day on my Patr eon: patr eon.com/parodygirl
By supporting me, you encourage me to keep writing :)