I Was a Sword When I Reincarnated (LN) - Volume 2 - Chapter 3

Chapter 3:

A Black Wolf Named Jet

Dawn had broken, and the expedition team had rushed through the dungeon floors to make up for lost time. We had just finished exploring the fourth floor.

“All right, time to gun through level five.”

We hadn’t run into any problems so far. Even Krad wasn’t giving us any lip. His loss the other day had made him taciturn, and if that wasn’t enough, he happened to wake up during Amanda and Fran’s mock battle (served him right).

Their battle had been fierce and downright horrifying at times. Seeing Amanda stab right through Fran still sent shivers up my spine, not that I had one. I had yet to snap out of using bodily metaphors to describe a situation. They felt weird to use in my current state, but alas, old habits die hard. Still, the experience of fighting an A-Rank had been a good one for Fran. As much as it pained her to lose, she bore no grudges towards Amanda. In fact, it made her like the Half Elf all the more.

Amanda herself was very satisfied with the proceedings of the night before. If an ordinary adventurer had been on the receiving of her whip’s onslaught, one lash would’ve brought them to a tragic end. Thanks to Fran’s evasive capabilities, Amanda had to go all out or risk getting cut herself.

Amanda adored Fran for being equal parts cute and strong. She had been doting on her all morning, but then again she had been friendly ever since our first encounter at the guild some days ago. It wouldn’t have been awkward if she had blurted out, “I actually knew your parents,” because she was so kind. That goes to show you how much she liked kids.

Cruise and Furion had looked on in awe at Fran and Amanda’s earth-shattering fight. There were no obvious changes in their behavior, but there was a note of awe in their voices when they talked to Fran now. She had earned their respect. Cruise had sparred with Amanda afterwards, but the match was nowhere near as intense.

Oddly enough, Cruise took a liking to Fran, as well. I guess he didn’t feel like he lost to a D-Rank adventurer. He respected her for being much stronger than him, and was broad-minded enough to admit that fact. He’s a good man, Cruise. Not that I’d give Fran over to him.

We went from the first to the fourth floors unhampered. There were no strong enemies, and no traps that we could find. We weren’t able to gain any new skills but that was okay. We had never fought in a team before and the extra experience didn’t hurt.

“A word of caution before we go deeper. We’re going to start running into Trap Spiders, so stay sharp.”

“Hm.”

“They’re a pain if they manage to swarm you. Be on the lookout.”

The Trap Spiders could produce strong silk thread. They might be weak, but you could suffer a humiliating defeat if they managed to wrap you up in their webbing.

“There’ll be other traps, too. The Teleportation Trap is going to be the most dangerous one here. Thieves, focus on sniffing out traps over killing monsters.”

There were also poison gas traps and trapdoors, both of which could kill you if you weren’t careful. And to top it off, there were strange traps that unequipped your armor, or confused your sense of direction.

The Thief-class adventurers took point as we descended into the fifth level. In the event of a fight, the Fighter classes would move forward to swap positions with them. The Mage-class party members would hang back and provide covering fire and support.

We needed the materials the spiders left behind, so we were warned not to use fire magic. Trap Spider Silk was strong and necessary in the making of a myriad of equipment. However, singeing them with fire before processing them would lower the quality of the material. Fran was going to have to stick to swinging her sword.

Our expedition was doing all right. We hadn’t run into any problems during our battles or with traps. At this rate, we would clear level five without a hitch. We brought a lot of firepower so that was only natural.

We ran into our first obstacle once we descended into the sixth floor.

“Damn it, these spiders aren’t going down!”

“My Spirit Magic isn’t working on them, either?! How?!”

The Trap Spiders had suddenly gotten stronger. They were bigger and had more health points than the ones we’d been fighting on the previous floors. Did they get stronger the deeper we went into the dungeon?

I used Identify on one of them. After seeing their stats and titles, my suspicions were confirmed.

Fran, these aren’t Trap Spiders, they’re Trick Spiders! They’ve evolved!

Trick Spiders looked like oversized Trap Spiders, but their capabilities were on a different level. Having evolved, they were now an E-Rank monster. Their stats were a tier above regular Trap Spiders, but what made them especially dangerous were their Confusion and Venom Fangs. Many an adventurer was fooled into attacking them, thinking they were ordinary Trap Spiders.

We weren’t supposed to run into Trick Spiders yet, though, and yet here they were in full force. Wasn’t this a bad sign?

“Gennel, what’s wrong?!”

“I don’t know… My antidote’s not working…”

There was our first victim. A Trap Spider’s poison was so weak that popping a fifth-rate antidote would’ve been enough to cleanse it. You needed a third-rate antidote for a Trick Spider’s venom.

This was how the Trick Spider killed its prey. An adventurer, having been bit by something that looked like a Trap Spider, would consume his cheapest antidote. He’d continue fighting with the venom still in his system until he eventually succumbed to it.

Fran, that guy’s in trouble.

“On it.”

Fran knelt beside the man and cast the Healing spell, Antidote.

“Y-you saved me!”

“Thank you. But why didn’t the antidote potion work?”

“That’s a Trick Spider. Its venom is stronger.”

“Trick Spiders?! So they’ve evolved?”

This dungeon wasn’t supposed to spawn any Trick Spiders; Trap Spiders were the strongest things here. However, there had been cases where the monster population in dungeons would evolve on its own. Usually, it was an accident of the dungeon’s spawn system. A dungeon produced monsters out of nothing by using free mana in the atmosphere. Individual variations between specimens were inevitable. Sometimes, a dungeon would spit out a Rare or Unique monster that was head and shoulders above the rest.

There was no clear explanation for it. Some say it was a trial from the Chaos God himself.

This apex predator ate all weaker monsters around it. Eventually, it would have eaten enough of its own kind to evolve. It would move to greener pastures, and gave a chance for the next strongest monster to become an apex predator, and to subsequently evolve.

Most of the time, the apexes’ battles for dominance would end in mutual destruction. However, there have been awful cases where they would coexist, thereby disrupting the dungeon’s ecosystem. 

Alternatively, monsters could evolve by ingesting something with high EXP, or other external factors. These latter cases were rare, however, since most conquered dungeons were monitored by guilds and the nations the dungeons were in.

Cruise understood that this was not the time to be fussing about examination matters and promptly asked Amanda for assistance.

“Damn it, we should’ve noticed sooner! Lady Amanda!”

“Got it. Let’s go, Fran.”

“Yeah.”

And so the stomping began. Amanda unleashed her whip to keep the spiders at bay while Fran moved in to slice their heads open. The Trick Spiders, which had been giving the E-Ranks a hard time, began to dissipate. Soon, all that was left of the swarm were a pile of corpses. There were around twenty of them in total.

“Well, that was boring, wasn’t it, Fran? I wish we could fight something stronger.”

“No, I had fun.”

“Aww, really? Then I had fun, too.”

The other adventurers lay around exhausted despite Amanda’s cheerful exchange. Krad and his crew seemed to be at their limits.

“Fall back to the fifth floor! They wouldn’t be able to chase us there!”

Dungeon monsters were only able to move floors if a Dungeon Master ordered them to. Since this was a conquered dungeon, the Trick Spiders wouldn’t be able to go after us if we went back to the fifth floor.

“They’re already breeding, so watch out.”

“Got it!”

“We’ll cover the rear. Fran, you’re with us.”

“Sure.”

“E-Ranks, you’re on point!”

Krad and his crew followed Cruise’s orders without talking back for once. He didn’t have time to bicker.

“R-right. Aargh!”

“Calm down! It’s just a scratch.”

“They’re right behind us!”

“It’s only one of them! Stop panicking!”

“They’re coming in from the front!”

Dragon Roar, Krad’s party, started freaking out. They weren’t used to being surrounded from all sides. The chaos didn’t make things any easier on them, either.

“Wait.”

“S-shut up!”

Krad was barely able to maintain his composure during the brawl, but two of his teammates, the ones who had gotten attacked from behind, were now in a frenzy. They charged blindly into the swarm of spiders in front of them.

“Stop, there might be traps there!”

They stepped into a part of the floor that the thieves hadn’t scouted yet, and surely enough, fell into a trap. It activated with a low whine.

“And it’s a Teleport Trap, too…?”

“Crap!”

“Run for i—”

Fran disappeared. I fell to the ground, no longer in her hands.

What? Fran?

“Fran!”

Fran was gone. The trap Krad’s party activated had taken her with them. Their weapons fell to the ground, too. It wasn’t just their spears, either. Even their daggers and throwing knives had been left behind. The Cobra Dagger Fran had equipped as a sidearm lay next to me.

“A Strip Weapon trap…?”

“It even stripped their sidearms!”

We were warned that Teleport Traps could drag the people next to you when activated, but they could unequip your weapons, too? That was not part of the mission brief!

Please be okay… She should be fine… Right? Right. Just calm down!

Where was she…? Damn it! I should’ve leveled up my scouting skills if I knew this would happen!

“Impossible! What’s a Compound Trap doing in a dungeon like this?!”

“These are traps you see in high-rank dungeons!”

Cruise’s crew were just as shocked as I was. The high-level trap hit them like a bolt out of the blue.

“… I think I know where they came from.”

“Ma’am?”

“Trap Spiders and Trick Spiders have the Create Trap skill. The same goes for their evolved form, the Trickster Spiders, of course.”

Trap creation? These spiders were more dangerous than I thought! And we might have Trickster Spiders on our hands, too?

“B-but how can such a powerful monster be in a dungeon like this?”

“We got overrun by Trick Spiders, didn’t we? A Trickster Spider or two wouldn’t be out of the question.”

“Damn it! Eizell, the map!”

Cruise’s Thief began looking up possible locations where the Teleport Trap might have sent our comrades.

“Got it. They should be in a small room just ahead of here. I hope.”

Amanda grabbed Fran’s Cobra Dagger and me and sprinted; she ran faster than I could Telekinesis myself. Spiders began swarming her and I grew worried for her. Her Beloved of the Spirits skill was still on cooldown. Amanda was strong, but surely even she was no match for this horde of spiders.

“Move it.”

With a flick of her right hand, the spiders around her burst into gore. All it took was one strike, and I couldn’t even see it. How strong was she? If she had gone all out during her sparring match with Fran, she would’ve killed her in an instant.

“Fran!”

Krad followed desperately behind us. He made it to the small room a few seconds after Amanda did.

“Victor! Bart!”

But the room was empty.

“I knew it. They changed the teleport locations…”

“Shit, what do we do?!”

Cruise caught up to us. Understanding the situation, he immediately gave us our orders.

“We’ll split up to look for them. But we’ll end up killing ourselves if we spread ourselves too thin. We’ll make three search parties. Me, Eizell, and Dragon’s Roar. Rig, you’re with Eye of the Forest. Lady Amanda, I trust you can take care of yourself.”

“A-all right.”

“Let’s go!”

The adventurers left to look for their comrades. Amanda stayed, however, and rested me against a wall. She closed her eyes and seemed to be concentrating. She must’ve been using Wind Magic.

Will Telepathy work? No. She was too far away! If only I had teleportation or some skill that would guide me to her, or her to me.

Bring Fran back to me…? That might be possible. She was still under Contract even when she unequipped me. Maybe I could Summon her. I brought up my Summon list, desperately wishing that Fran’s name would be listed there.

Unfortunately, it wasn’t. However, the summon list had names I had never seen before.

Summon List:

Wolf; Grey Wolf; Brown Wolf; Red Wolf; Blue Wolf; Green Wolf; Yellow Wolf; Black Wolf; Ruby Wolf; Emerald Wolf; Thunder Wolf; Onyx Wolf.

What was this wolf party? I didn’t remember ever forming a contract with any of them. However, a wolf might be able to track her down using its sense of smell. It might be able to find her, and that was good enough for me.

I looked through each wolf’s stats and decided Onyx Wolf would be the best option. It had the strongest stats and had the skill Life Sense. All the wolves over Red had Echolocation and Enhanced Sense of Smell. The Onyx Wolf would have the best chance of finding Fran.

I didn’t see any other options, so I decided to summon it.

Summon Onyx Wolf.

I focused to put all the mana I could into summoning it—it might have been useless, but it couldn’t hurt. A gigantic magic circle appeared in mid-air, mana pouring out of it like crazy. Currents of mana flickered and danced before finally taking the shape of a wolf with black fur.

It was much bigger than I expected. I thought it would be the size of a large dog… But this thing was close to the size of a Holstein.

“Wh-what’s an Onyx Wolf doing here?” Amanda gasped in surprise. 

Crap, I completely forgot about her!

The wolf was overflowing with mana and barked intimidatingly. No matter how you looked at it, the great wolf looked like a threat that needed to be put down.

“Grrr…”

Please stop. Why do you keep barking? Why do you keep releasing your mana everywhere?

Down, boy! Stop barking!

“Grrr!”

It wasn’t listening to me. Was I not getting through to it? I looked at it closer and it seemed to be in pain. What was going on?

Name: Onyx Wolf

Race: Direwolf

Status: Mana Frenzy

Level: 1

HP: 319; Magic: 213; Strength: 126; Agility: 221

Mana Frenzy… So that’s why it couldn’t stop its mana overflow! But what should I do?

Would you like to Name the Onyx Wolf?

Not now! Any name would do, right? Uhh— 

Jet! That’s your new name!

I named it Jet for its jet-black fur. It also had red streaks around its mane, which reminded me of jets of flame. Which, in turn, would turn you into jet-black charcoal if you got too close. It was a good name, considering I came up with it in two seconds.

Onyx Wolf has been named Jet. It will now evolve.

Evolve? Did I do that by naming it? What about Mana Frenzy? Could someone please tell me what is going on?

The Onyx Wolf began to change shape right before my eyes, as the system voice had said.

Jet has evolved into a Darkness Wolf

“Awoooo!”

It seemed lively now. Was its Mana Frenzy gone?

Name: Jet (Darkness Wolf)

Race: Direwolf

Level: 1

HP: 451; Magic: 670; Strength: 216; Agility: 310

Skills: Shadow Resistance 8; Shadow Magic 1; Heightened Senses 10; Stealth 7; Fang Arts 5; Fang Mastery 5; Shadow Lurk 10; Shadow Walk 5; Air Hike 8; Fear 4; Vigilance 6; Conceal Presence 6; Regeneration 5; Deadly Venom Magic 1; Flash Step 5; Hush 6; Necromancy 5; Life Sense 7; Mental Resistance 6; Poison Magic 10; Echolocation 7; Roar 8; Nightshade 10; Dark Magic 10; Nightvision; Toxic Fang; Health Regen; Mana Regen; Nullify Poison; Shapeshift; Mana Manipulation

Unique Skill: Predator

Titles: Sword Clan; Great Wolf Clan

A high rank Direwolf with the ability to use Shadow Magic. Though its stats are lower than other monsters in its Threat Level, its magic and skillset are top class. Though its existence have been confirmed, live specimens are difficult to find because of its stealth-oriented skills. Threat Level C.

Crystal location: Heart

I thought the Onyx Wolf was big but the Darkness Wolf dwarfed it in comparison. The Onyx Wolf was as big as a cow, but the Darkness Wolf stood at a staggering three meters. Its golden eyes glared threateningly at anything foolish enough to challenge it. Its paws looked strong enough to knock a bear out with a swipe. Having evolved from the Onyx Wolf, its fur had an odd glimmer; it seemed to glitter like the midnight sky depending on where you were standing. Its mane had undergone an odd transformation as well. Previously red, it was now an elegant white, giving it the appearance of a husky. As someone who liked dogs, it made Jet look friendly and approachable.

According to its description, it was a C-Rank threat with a myriad of stealth-oriented skills; it reminded me of an assassin. Its magic capabilities were impressive, too. It might not be as physically strong as the Tyrant Sabertooth I fought ages ago, but it more than made up for that difference in magic.

“And it evolved?! Into a Darkness Wolf…? I’ve never seen one before. Wait, is its magic connected to Fran’s sword?”

Amanda easily saw through my plot. Well, at least she didn’t see Jet as that much of a threat now. We needed to look for Fran!

Jet, can you hear me? Raise your right paw if you can.

“Woof.”

Jet raised its right front paw.

Now your left hind leg.

“Woof.”

Good, I’m getting through to it. It also felt like I was able to feel what Jet was feeling as well. Was it thanks to Telepathy?

Can you find Fran for me? She’s my User.

“Woof.”

Jet proceeded to sniff me to pick up Fran’s scent. It then started growling as it used its skill.

Well?

“Awooo!”

It howled, grabbed me with its mouth, and started running. Had it already spotted her? That was fast!

Am I too heavy for you?

“Urf!”

Jet’s bark sounded muffled since it was holding me in its mouth. Its large muzzle was more than enough to accommodate me. It ran through the cave at the speed of darkness.

Faster, Jet!

“Bow wow!”

We might reach Fran sooner than I thought, but were we being too careless in our rush to get to her?

“Wait, there might be traps!”

Amanda cried out from behind us. Things would turn out worse if we set off any more Teleport Traps.

Jet, keep your eyes open for any traps!

“Woof?”

You don’t need to?

Jet trotted along, paying no attention to my warnings. Its Air Hike allowed it to move in mid-air, thereby bypassing any traps that might have been in the way. Its eyes glowed as it used its Dark Magic to detect any traps along the way, hopping to and fro to avoid them all.

Jet stopped after three hundred meters.

What is it, Jet?

“Aroo?”

No, where’s Fran?

Jet left me on the floor and sat. It panted.

Now is not the time for panting.

“Ruff, ruff!”

It put its front paws on a cave wall and scratched against it. Soon, it started digging.

Is she on the other side of this wall?

“Bark!”

“Is Fran behind that thing?” Amanda approached the wall with a look of surprise. I was more surprised to see that she had actually kept up with the Direwolf. Although given her higher Agility value, I guess that was to be expected. “I got it. Tornado Lance!”

Amanda blew a hole through the wall with her Wind Magic.

A hidden passageway!

“This is why I hate this dungeon. No wonder I couldn’t find her with my wind spells earlier.”

I wondered if the other two were in there with her. I looked for her presence, but I could sense nothing but spiders waiting for us further down. Was she really in there? Uncertainty began to creep over me.

Jet, go!

“Woof!”

Jet used Air Hike to glide through the air.

There!

There she was! I could see Fran now! She was further down the passageway, fortunately, still moving. But there was one problem— 

The spiders!

Fran was surrounded by a swarm of smaller spiders. As weak as each individual spiderling was, an entire army of them posed a threat.

Faster, Jet!

“Woof!”

Over here, Fran!

She couldn’t hear me. I was still too far to use Telepathy. But why wasn’t she getting out of the way? Fran would be able to hop over them with how fast she was. It was then that I noticed the two figures lying unconscious behind her. They were members of Krad’s party that had set off the Teleport Trap to begin with. She was covering for them.

Fire Javelin!

These damn spiders were more troublesome than they looked. I shot off some spells, but the nests they had set up blocked them off. My Fire Javelin couldn’t travel far enough to kill the spiders that were surrounding Fran.

She doesn’t have any skills right now!

She was no longer under the effect of Skill Sharing once she unequipped me. Trying to fight in that state was suicidal. The spiders leapt at Fran all at once to overwhelm her. They seemed impossible to dodge but Fran was somehow putting up a fight. She punched and kicked the little bastards like she was dancing. The spiderlings’ assault was unrelenting, however. They crawled up to the walls around her to prey on the two unconscious adventurers. Try as she might to punch the spiderlings out of existence, she couldn’t possibly have taken care of all of them. The spiderlings on the wall jumped onto the unconscious adventurers.

Fran, don’t be reckless! I screamed. Fran had protected the adventurers with her own body. Countless tiny fangs sank into her back. Blood flowed. Lots of it. The sight of the red stuff pouring out of her back made me to fly into a rage. Literally.

Raaaaargh!

“Awooo!”

I was seeing red now. So what if Amanda found out? I was angry at myself for being worried about such petty things. Get your priorities straight!

It had been a few minutes since we found Fran and I had spent all that time charging Telekinesis. I did it out of habit; it was a subconscious decision. I was like a swordsman who had his hand on the hilt of his sword the moment he sensed danger. Now, I had enough charge to launch myself with the Telekinetic Catapult.

But would I reach her? The spiders’ silk was quite strong. As much momentum as I could get with the Telekinetic Catapult, would I be able to pierce through the swarm of spiders and their nests? I knew enough about the strength of their carapaces and webbing by now, and I understood that I wouldn’t be able to land at Fran’s feet by mere force of the Telekinetic Catapult.

So what now?

I’ll just have to break through my limits!

I had always charged my Telekinetic Catapult to what I thought was my near absolute limit, but was that my true limit? Try as I might for a max charge, I was still subconsciously holding back for a margin of safety. I didn’t want to break myself from the recoil, but it looked like I was going to have to play dangerously today.

Break… through!

Mana ran up and down my blade. I didn’t know how much mana my blade could take. No, it wasn’t enough. I needed more power! What could I do…? I suddenly remembered the Elemental Blade skill I had learned earlier. The skill would imbue my blade with an element. I turned it on.

“Ooooh!”

Now I could charge my mana all the way!

Flames engulfed me and I glowed, red hot. It was so hot that I could feel the finer parts of my blade melting away. I caught the spiders’ attention and they turned towards me. They spat out their webbing but it was no use. Their thread evaporated long before it could reach me.

Out of my way, you goddamn spiders!

I exploded and accelerated with charges of Telekinesis. I pierced through the spiders’ tough nests like they were sheets of paper. Even the tough carapaces of the arachnids were no match for me. They turned to charcoal the instant I ran through them.

A normal Telekinetic Catapult would only go half the distance before the webbing started slowing me down. But now I was like a cannonball. I charged through the horde of spiders, disintegrating the ones who were in my immediate path, and cracking open the ones on the sides with the force of my sonic boom.

Graaah!

The sheer number of the spiderlings eventually slowed me down. Would I still be able to make it? Did I underestimate the strength of the spiders’ nests?

Come on! I’m almost there!

I was able to charge through the last of the arachnid horde, and into the small room Fran was in. It was almost as if my blade responded to my wishes. I had lost most of my momentum by then, I could only float towards Fran but at least the pesky spider nests were no longer in my way.

Get away from Fran, you eight-legged demons! Fire Arrow!

I incinerated the last of the creepy-crawlies with bolts of flame. I bombarded Fran with Healing Magic as soon as I got to her.

Heal!

I started with the cheaper spells to maintain my already deteriorating speed.

Fran!

She wasn’t responding. Her status said she was Poisoned and Stunned. To top it all off, she was low on health. I panicked, and bombarded her with Antidote and Greater Heal to top her up. 

I cast Antidote on Krad’s friends just in case. They might have dragged Fran into this mess, but she had put her life on the line to protect them. I wasn’t going to let her pain go to waste.

What happened to the other spiders?

“Aroo?”

Jet! When did you get here? Wait, did you just use Shadow Walk?!

Shadow Walk was the movement skill the Daemon had used. I had completely forgotten about it in my frenzy. How much in a panic was I? I would’ve been able to reach Fran sooner if I had ridden with Jet…

Jet stuck its muzzle in the pile of spider corpses and stuffed its cheeks. The wolf seemed to be chewing on something. A single spider leg was sticking out of its mouth, in fact. Just thinking about the cost of its food gave me a headache. I wouldn’t be able to harvest any materials out of the monster it ate, either.

Fran, Fran.

I shook Fran with Telepathy to try to wake her up.

“Huh…?”

Are you awake?

“Teacher?”

Yeah. You’re okay now.

“What about the spiders?”

All dead.

“Oh.”

I looked at her stats again. Her Sword Mastery was at Level 3. She still had Sword Arts and Spirit Manipulation, too. She didn’t have these skills when I first met her. She managed to learn new skills even when she had been equipping me.

Her titles had stayed with her during the loss of her skills. She was still a Fire Mage. Also, despite fighting barehanded, Sword Mastery still increased her fighting capabilities. That must have helped her to fend off the spiderlings.

Having gained two skills in a little over a month, I still thought her growth was unusually fast. Was it because she had been using me? Knowing the feel of high-level skills probably helped her body to accommodate.

But all those skill levels would’ve been useless if it wasn’t for Fran’s determination. She had kept fighting off the spiderlings despite being surrounded, bitten, and poisoned. If she had lost her fighting spirit for a second, they all would’ve died by now. If there was one thing I knew had grown in her, it was her willpower.

You did great.

I learned something else today. If I understood the flow of mana in an object, I could control it, roughly speaking. I could load myself with mana to the point of overcharge, although it was a double-edged sword.

I’m glad you’re alright, Fran.

“Thanks.”

Fran hugged my cracked and chipped blade.

Careful, Fran. You’ll cut yourself.

“I’ll be fine.”

She hugged me tighter. She leaned her forehead against my hilt and let out a sigh of relief. She was just as worried as I was.

Alright, fine.

“Hm.”

It was the touching reunion with my beloved student. It would be nice if there were no one else here but us.

“D-did that sword just… move? I’m pretty sure I heard it talk, too. And it used magic…”

I had completely forgotten about Amanda! I was trying to tiptoe around her before… But I had lost my head in the heat of things.

In a state of panic, I had neglected to set my Telepathy frequency to private. I had broadcast my frantic shouting to all the souls in earshot, and that included Amanda.

I had cast spells, used Telekinesis, and had flown over to Fran.

“Um…”

“No, wait. You don’t have to explain it to me. It’s okay.”

“Huh?”

“I just happened to hear it, that’s all. Everyone’s bound to have a secret or two.”

She might as well have said that she knew about Fran’s talking, flying sword. There wasn’t much point in dancing around the issue, was there?

Teacher, can I talk to her?

Do you want to tell Amanda?

Yeah…

That was awfully nice of Fran, considering Amanda was the person who had half-killed her during a friendly match… but, if Fran wanted to tell Amanda about me I wasn’t going to question her. Amanda seemed like a good person, anyway.

“Amanda.”

“What’s up?”

“There’s something I want to tell you.”

Three minutes later, Amanda’s eyes were shining with excitement.

“An Intelligent Weapon?! So you have a mind of your own? I thought those only existed in fairy tales! I can’t believe I’m talking to one right now!”

Intelligent Weapons were indeed rare; even Amanda had never come across one in all her travels. What really pleased her though, was the fact that Fran would entrust this great secret to her. This wasn’t information you would share with just about anyone, after all.

“Thank you for telling me, Fran. And… Teacher, was it?”

That’s right.

“Wow… You can really talk!”

Amanda admired me, her eyes all a-sparkle. She was like a little girl who was meeting Santa Claus in person after being told he was a myth all her life.

Nice to meet you.

“The pleasure’s all mine! Don’t you worry, your secret’s safe with me. I’ll keep it with me to my grave! Come talk to me if you need help with anything, okay? I’ll always be on your side, Fran.”

“Sure.”

“I’m the Protector of Children, after all. Come to me anytime you want.”

“Thanks.”

“Ooooh! You’re so cute I’ll do anything for you, Fran!”

I was glad we came to her for help. I was initially apprehensive of Amanda and used Essence of Lies on her just to be safe, but she was telling the truth, the whole truth, and nothing but the truth. She was willing to do anything if Fran came to her for help.

Isn’t that nice of her, Fran?

“Yeah.”

“I wish you could’ve seen your teacher when those spiders got you, Fran. The sword started screaming your name at the top of its lungs, and I thought I was going crazy!”

“Did I scare you, Teacher?”

A-a little bit.

“Your wolf had rushed ahead too, so I couldn’t help you with my spells. I was freaking out, too!”

“Aroo…”

I couldn’t believe I did all that! I panicked, and freaked, and piled one mistake on top of the other. There were easier ways to solve the encounter we just had. I could’ve asked Amanda for help from the start or hitched a ride during Jet’s Shadow Walk! If we’d had Amanda’s magic and her whip, we would’ve been able to get to Fran sooner.

Fran had a lot to learn, but so did I…

“What’s with the dog?”

Dog…

Jet whined. I understood where Fran was coming from, but I’d feel sorry for Jet if she started treating it like a dog.

Fran, meet Jet. It’s a Darkness Wolf I summoned to look for you.

“Jet suddenly coming out of nowhere scared me half to death!”

“Jet?”

Fran stared at Jet and it stared back innocently at her.

“Aww…”

She pet it on its head, which produced a joyful whine from the canine.

“Good wolf.”

“Arf.”

Is it really a Direwolf? It acts more like a dog than anything else.

“Woof, woof.”

“Hm.”

Jet squinted its eyes as Fran proceeded to fluff its neck, snout, and muzzle. It began licking her face in gratitude, covering her head with slobber. This thing had just been munching on spiders, hadn’t it? Go wash your face later, Fran.

We would need to regroup with the rest of the adventurers. There was no need to rush, of course, but this dungeon was particularly dangerous for Krad’s and Furion’s parties.

We should get going.

“You’re right. Wake up, you two.”

“Bwuh…?”

Amanda kicked the two unconscious adventurers awake.

“Where am I?”

“You idiots freaked out and ran straight into a Teleport Trap.”

“Right… What happened to the girl?!”

“I-Is she okay?”

The two were knocked out of the fight before it even began. They were poisoned and bleeding, and were barely conscious. They still managed to see that Fran had covered for them despite their Stunned state.

“Thanks.”

“We owe you big time.”

What’s this? I wasn’t expecting Krad’s crew to bow their heads to Fran to thank her. Well, if they had turned out to be ungrateful scumbags who refused to acknowledge their petite savior, I would’ve given them a few free lessons in showing respect!

Judging by how Amanda was glaring at the two, she seemed to share my sentiments.

“Bark.”

“Wha—Oh my god, what is that?!”

“B-b-big wolf! Direwolf!”

That was the appropriate reaction to seeing a Darkness Wolf. Their legs turned to jelly and—Oh no. Were they going to faint again? Were we going to have to drag their unconscious asses out of here?

“M-ma’am, please! Save us!”

“Arf?”

“Oh god, it’s going to eat me!”

“Jet, no. Stop licking him.”

“Aroo…”

Amanda explained how Jet was Fran’s summon and the two finally calmed down.

“How did you get such a high-rank monster to be your summon?!”

“I’ve never seen someone use a summon in combat before!”

Their eyes glowed with respect towards Fran. They were converts, for sure. I wouldn’t be surprised if they started calling her “Ma’am.”

“As I was saying…”

“Where are the others?”

“Out looking for you.”

How should we look for them? Running around blindly in this dark cave wasn’t going to help.

“Jet, can you sniff them out, doggie?”

“Woof!”

Jet barked in assent. I had summoned it as part of a mad gambit but it was proving to be more than worth the mana cost. Jet knelt down, then cast a glance at Fran.

“You want me to ride you?”

“Bark!”

“Okay. Thanks.”

“What a smart dog he is.”

Jet still towered over her, despite kneeling down, but Fran managed to climb onto its back.

“Fluffy.”

“Arf!”

Fran grabbed its collar and cuddled against its neck. I held Fran in place with Telekinesis just to make sure she wouldn’t fall off during the great wolf’s dash.

But what about Krad’s friends? They weren’t fast enough to keep up, and it would be dangerous to leave them here by themselves. Maybe Amanda could cast some buffs on them.

“Jet, do you mind?”

“Aroo!”

Jet turned to Fran and answered with a bark. She nodded.

“You like dogs?”

“Little Lady? I-I don’t mind them I guess, but why do you ask…?”

“You’re good.”

“Good for wha—aaaah!”

Jet grabbed the adventurer from behind by the straps of his leather armor. It looked like a cat that was carrying its kittens by the back of the neck.

You could just let him ride you, you know?

Arf!

Ah. I guess Jet didn’t want anyone other than Fran to ride it. It recognized her as its master.

“I guess you’re with me.”

“Ma’am? What do you mean by that?”

“Try not to struggle too much.”

“Whoa!”

Amanda picked up the other adventurer and carried him under her arm. It was an odd sight to behold. The man was clearly bigger than her, but her A-Rank Strength was more than enough to carry him.

“Move out.”

“Bark!”

Jet started running on Fran’s signal. As it happened, I was back in my sheath, slung over Fran’s back. I was feeling cold from all the cracks in my blade but I was going to have to suck it up and deal with it until we left the dungeon. I had put enough of myself together to fight, but total repairs were going to have to wait.

“Wow, Jet. You’re running on thin air.”

It does have Air Hike 8, after all.

Our Air Hike 1 was only enough for a double jump. Compared to that, it felt like Jet was running on an invisible track. Fran seemed to be enjoying all this.

“Spiders ahead.”

Five Trick Spiders came to greet us.

“Go for it, Jet.”

“Awooo!”

Jet accelerated instead of slowing down. The adventurer in its mouth cried out in terror but Jet ignored him.

“Grrrr!”

Jet roared and jet-black lances shot out from around it to pierce the spiders all at once. Spiders at its sides were sliced open as it dashed forward. It had clawed at them, its fierce paws too fast for the naked eye to see.

Flare Blast!

“Fire Arrow.”

“Wind Cutter!”

We carved a path through the nest-ridden passageway with consecutive blasts of magic. We carried out our spider extermination mission as we rushed through the caves.

“They’re not putting up much of a fight.”

“Aiee…”

“Huff, huff…”

This was all a cakewalk to Amanda, but the two adventurers looked scared out of their minds.

We finally came to an anteroom covered with spider nests. A huge swarm of spiders covered the room as more and more crawled out of their hidey-holes. I felt some human presence further down, though. It must be Cruise and the rest of the adventurers. How did they end up all the way back there? There must have been another passageway.

We mowed down the spider swarm in front of us and made it to the anteroom. It was a huge space, its high ceilings decorated with spider nests. What would have been a welcome break from the claustrophobic cave atmosphere just looked creepy instead.

Countless spiders swarmed throughout the cave interior. They were on the floor, the walls, and the ceilings—a grotesque carpet and wallpaper of critters.

Cruise and the rest of the adventurers were in the thick of it. They were in trouble, by the looks of it. They didn’t have enough firepower to kill the critters fast enough and some of them had already fallen to abnormal status effects.

“Dammit! There’s no end to them!”

“If we could just get to the exit…!”

They had retreated too far back and were now boxed in.

One of the spiders was bigger than the rest of the horde. Its body was covered in venomous purple fur. Just the sight of it was enough to give me goosebumps. This must have been the Trickster Spider I had been hearing about. Its stats were a class above the rest of the arachnids.

This was the Big Spider Daddy who hurt Fran!

Time for a little payback!

“Yeah!”

As we charged into the heart of the swarm, I heard a desperate cry.

“Aaargh! I-I need help!”

“Boss!”

“Krad!”

What’s this? Krad was wrapped up in webbing and was being dragged into one of the spider nests. He wasn’t Poisoned, but he was Paralyzed. It didn’t look good for him.

We need to help him. Jet, you help the other adventurers.

“Woof.”

“Hm. Fire Arrow!”

The bolt of flame pierced through the horde of Trick Spiders and burned away the webbing that was wrapped around Krad.

“Ow! Ow! Hot!”

The flames got to Krad a little bit, but he’d be alright. The tips of his hair was slightly singed but at least he wasn’t spider food.

“Awooo!”

Jet unleashed a barrage of shadow spears that pierced through the arachnids’ carapaces. I didn’t know the spiders could feel fear, but they felt Jet’s power and scattered.

The humans, on the other hand, were more articulate in voicing their opinions.

“Whoa!”

“What the hell is that?!”

“Yikes! So much magical energy…”

“An Onyx Wolf…?”

“No, you idiot! It’s worse than that!”

“What the hell is it doing here?!”

“Everyone stay calm!”

They were already having enough trouble with the E-Rank monsters. The sight of a Direwolf almost sent the party into hysterics.

“Wait, look! It’s Lady Amanda!”

“And… the little lady! She’s riding that thing!”

“What?”

They calmed down after noticing Fran on top of Jet. We wouldn’t have to worry about being on the receiving end of friendly fire, now.

Alright, let’s start with the Big Daddy of ’em all. The Trickster Spi— 

“Die!”

With a crack of her whip, Amanda tore the Trickster Spider into pieces. Crystals burst out of its abdomen.

“I’ll show you what happens when you hurt Fran!”

Well, that was fast. Despite the Trickster Spider’s C-Rank Threat classification, its stats were closer to a D-Rank monster. If not for its Create Trap, it was closer to a D-Rank in strength.

All well and good, but to see it get torn to shreds in an instant…

Um, Amanda?

“Huh?”

I sent Amanda a telepathic message.

“Crap!”

She turned to me and smacked her forehead. I had explained to her earlier that I got stronger by absorbing crystals. No, I didn’t ask her if I could have the Trickster Spider’s crystal. But she didn’t look like she was opposed to it, either, so I took her silence as a yes.

I guess this one was on me for not actually asking her for the crystal…

“A-all right, let’s kill the rest of these bugs!”

Don’t just change the subject!

“Come on, Fran!”

Oh well… Arachnid extermination was going to have to come first.

“Okay.”

“Grrr.”

Let’s kill ’em all!

We rained down a barrage of spells on the arachnid swarm. Amanda used her Wind Magic to slice open the spider nests on the ceiling, Jet’s Shadow Magic pierced the spiders on the walls, and our Fire Magic burned the spiders on the ground. Furion had joined in to entangle the bugs with ivy.

We were dominating, especially Amanda with her Wind Magic. She had managed to annihilate all the spiders on the ceiling with a few shots of her spells. In all the chaos she had also managed to avoid friendly fire. Her control was impeccable. This was Amanda when she got serious. We had a long ways to go with our Flame Magic. We would need to put additional time into training our magic along with our sword.

“That was amazing, Amanda.”

“Aww, thanks Fran!”

She didn’t look very fierce when she was blushing from Fran’s compliment, though.

The floor was littered with burnt spider remains. Most looked too damaged to be of any use, but we might still be able to salvage some materials out of them. There might be some crystals among the corpse pile, too.

Jet, see if you can’t sniff out some crystals.

“Woof.”

We could get some Trick Spider crystals at least. Jet’s sense of smell allowed it to sniff whatever remained with little trouble. What’s more, it had stowed the crystal away in the shadows, another application of Shadow Walk. Very useful.

“Excuse me… What’s with the Direwolf?”

Cruise cautiously approached us. He had somehow made it out of the scuffle safely, but some of the others weren’t as lucky. The spider’s toxin was beginning to get to them.

Fran.

“Right. Antidote. Cure Paralyze.”

“You saved me!”

“Thank you!”

“I-I thought I was a goner!”

We sat down, Furion’s crew fully healed. One of them was in tears with gratitude. Good thing there were no casualties.

“So, this wolf. Is it an Onyx Wolf?”

“No. It’s a Darkness Wolf.”

“What?”

“I’ve never seen one before!”

The party was in an uproar over seeing such a rare beast. Even Amanda had never seen one before.

“Is it your summon, Fran?”

“Yeah.”

“What kind of Summon Magic could a D-Rank have…”

“This is weird…”

Furion observed Jet with wide eyes. He couldn’t beat his natural curiosity as a researcher. Cruise shook his head after being reminded of Fran’s capabilities.

Jet really stood out, didn’t it? I could imagine getting looks from the people in town once we returned to Alessa. And where was it going to stay? We might have to look for lodging that was okay with pets.

I had tried to unsummon it earlier, but it didn’t work. It looked like once you summoned something in this world, it was here for good. Fortunately, it didn’t consume any extra mana by existing.

Jet, you can use Shadow Walk to enter Fran’s shadow, right?

Woof.

Jet responded by melting into Fran’s shadow. It took no time at all, and I could barely detect its presence with my Mage skill. An inexperienced adventurer wouldn’t be able to tell that he was there.

Do you mind staying in her shadow when we walk around town?

Jet whined.

You don’t like that?

Arf.

You really stand out in town, though. You might get attacked.

Jet let out another dejected whine and its ears flopped down sadly.

Urgh… You know I can’t force you to shadow lurk when you look at me like that.

Teacher, let him stay out.

Look, I would love to, but—

Please?

Aroo?

This wasn’t fair! Two sets of watery eyes were looking at me! It was an odd sight to everyone else in the room since Fran and the Direwolf were looking towards Fran’s back.

“Woof!”

What? Did you think of something?

Jet dug its paws to the ground and started focusing his mana.

“Awooo.”

What’s this? Jet was shrinking! In a few seconds it had shrunk down to the size of a normal large dog.

You’re using Shapeshift? I thought that skill was for transforming into other monsters.

“Bark, bark.”

“Oh my god, it’s so cute! It’s so small now! I want one, too!”

Jet was smaller compared to its original size, but it was still plenty big. It was barely within the reasonable limits, but you could pass it off as an ordinary dog if you insisted. Or so I hoped.

Oh, fine. You can walk around town in that form.

“Woof!”

Thanks, Teacher. Now I can fluff Jet all day.

So that was why Fran had insisted… I wanna fluff it too, dammit!

We had summoned the big black wolf, so now we were going to have to take care of it. I wondered if we would need to take it out on walks. What about a leash? Summoning Jet made me feel like keeping a dog.

“I’m in your care, Fluff—Jet.”

“Aroo?”

Fran seemed to be quite particular about Jet’s texture.

After our bout of spider extermination, we returned to our original mission of examining the Core Room.

“There’s the Magistone.”

“And of such purity… It’s brilliant.”

“It’s a mountain of treasure!”

Krad’s eyes lit up. He went ahead to the glowing rock, past Furion who was still in the middle of admiring the Magistone.

“Pfft.”

Fran couldn’t stifle her giggle at the sight.

“Don’t laugh! Whose fault do you think this is?”

“The one who saved your life.”

“Urgh.”

“Collateral damage.”

“F-fine, I get it already!”

The Fire Arrow used to burn off Krad’s bondage earlier had singed and left patches in his hair. He ended up having to shave his entire head. He had used a dagger for his emergency haircut, and the uneven shave resulting from it was absolutely comical. I could have restored his hair with Greater Heal, but I kept quiet.

“Heh.”

“Dammit.”

Amanda and Fran couldn’t help but laugh every time they caught sight of it. I had never seen Fran smile so much before. It was rude, but I’d allow it. Krad’s hairdo was quite funny, after all.

“Lady Amanda, please. We need to recover the Magistone now.”

“I know, I know.”

“Everyone, please use this item bag.”

“Hm.”

Everyone took turns in harvesting the Magistone and putting it into their item bags which had been imbued with the Item Box capability. We were getting a lot of it. The purity of the core room even produced Magistone Ingots. Considering how valuable they were, it was surprising we were getting so much of it.

“I don’t think I need to remind you, but this is a restricted area. Cross it without permission, and it won’t be just the Guild – the government might look into the matter, as well.”

“We’ll be alright since we have permits, but if anyone tries to walk in here without one, the barrier at the entrance would be able to tell immediately.”

“You need to be careful too, Fran. The Guildmaster won’t shut up about this one,” Amanda warned us sternly. There must be serious punishment for violating this rule.

“Why all the need for secrecy?”

“Don’t you think we’re getting too many Magistones?”

“Are we?”

“Yes. Each Dungeon Core has its own idiosyncrasies, and it takes a different amount of mana to produce different items. This dungeon can produce high purity Magistones without using much mana.”

That was why entry to this place was usually restricted. Filching a few Magistones would be enough to make a fortune. It would entice the heart of most adventurers.

“Let’s see… Core Settings…”

Cruise left us on Magistone collection while he examined the dungeon’s settings. He couldn’t find Trap Spider on the dungeon’s spawn list, however.

“So, are you going to eliminate the remaining Trick Spiders, Cruise?”

“We’re going to have to write a report first.”

Not many of the Trick Spiders were left, but we couldn’t let them have free reign over the dungeon, either. They might start reproducing again, or worse, one of them might grow strong enough to evolve into a Trickster Spider. That would increase the dungeon’s difficulty level, thereby making Magistone collection more dangerous.

On the bright side, Trick Spider materials were far better than the Trap Spider variety. It would make periodic farming more productive. Trick Spiders also had more mana, which the Dungeon Core would be able to absorb through the air. It would contribute to the core’s Magistone production for sure.

“How about we file a report and let the Guildmaster worry about it?”

“I suppose you’re right.”

Cruise nodded to Amanda. Messing with Core Settings was above a C-Rank’s pay grade. This was a matter of Guild management and government taxation. Amanda had made the suggestion in passing, but the matter might concern her considering she was the only A-Rank in Alessa.

In any case, this had nothing to do with us.

Our trip back to Alessa was uneventful. Fran and Amanda had another sparring match, and Jet jumped in during the middle of it.

“Grrr!”

“Haa!”

Jet’s shadow spears and Fran’s flame bolts launched towards Amanda. She dispersed the spells with a single crack of her whip before countering them.

She was more serious today since the Direwolf had joined the party. Her attacks were more vicious, her speed a whole tier faster. Fran and Jet winced from a single lash of Amanda’s whip. They powered through it while casting healing spells, however.

Fran and Jet were slowly but surely becoming a solid team.

“Awooo!”

“Very interesting!”

Jet had entered Fran’s shadow to dodge Amanda’s whip strikes and had popped out of Amanda’s shadow. It had faked a Shadow Walk from a Shadow Lurk. This reminded me of our fight with the Daemon; it really was an annoying move. But Amanda immediately responded by blowing Jet away with a wind spell. I didn’t expect anything less from her.

Shadow Walk allowed you to close the distance between you and your target in an instant. It consumed a lot of mana, but fortunately Jet was a Darkness Wolf who had mana to spare. It was able to use it over and over again in a short period of time. 

It was also getting better at using the mana and was figuring out multiple ways to harass its target. At times, it would stay in Fran’s shadow and lay covering fire with shadow and poison spells. Other times it would fake Amanda out by seeming as if it was going to ambush her from her shadow when in fact it would just come out of Fran’s shadow.

Just because Jet had strong magical capabilities didn’t mean it was a slouch in the physical department, either. It was strong there, too. It had Fang Arts and Toxic Fang, and its Strength was quite high. It was enough to mow down a Goblin horde with little trouble.

Fran was beginning to grasp Jet’s combat capabilities, and was slowly learning to issue commands to it throughout the fight. The two were becoming a force to be reckoned with as the fight went on. The bond between them was growing stronger, and they pulled off some tactics that were able to throw Amanda off, if only slightly. Still, their combined abilities weren’t enough to beat her.

We asked Amanda to teach us about Naming as a reward for our sparring match. No doubt, Naming was the reason behind Jet’s evolution. However, Fran and I had given each other names when we first met. Why didn’t anything happen to us then?

Amanda explained the mechanics and I understood why.

Naming was an action usually carried out by a superior towards a subordinate, or a summoner towards the summoned. The act not only served to give a name to the creature, but it also strengthened the bond between the two parties. It was like a contract in that way.

Being named unlocked one’s true potential and granted additional points in one’s stats. It might also produce unique effects depending on the one being named.

In Jet’s case, being named allowed it to channel the mana overload into a body that was able to handle it. What if I had delayed? It would’ve gone berserk, attacked Amanda, and been subsequently destroyed by the A-Rank. Sorry about that, Jet. It was an emergency.

Fran and I weren’t superior to each other, so we didn’t get stronger when we gave each other names. It was a simple naming ceremony in our case.

What I really wanted to know was why I had an entire menagerie of wolves on my Summon List. What was that about? I was sure we would be able to figure it out somehow but we needed more information. Should we go to the Reference Room again? Fran wouldn’t like it very much, though.

She would be all right so long as she had food. She’d be able to put up with most things if I told her she could eat all the curry she wanted afterwards. She was making a mad dash for the Big Eater spot… I knew I could cut back her portion sizes but when she stared at me with those puppy-dog eyes, I couldn’t resist. I had double to deal with now with Jet joining us. I was beginning to understand why some parents got overprotective with their kids.

As we sat around the campfire, Fran asked Amanda one last question.

“Evolved Black Cats?”

Evolution. Fran’s goal. No Black Cat in history had ever achieved it.

Our encounters with other Beastmen reinforced this fact. All of them mocked her on account of her race. Were Black Cats simply unable to evolve? Amanda was a well-traveled adventurer. Maybe she knew something we didn’t.

Amanda was silent, and sadly, shook her head.

“I’m sorry. I don’t know. Beastman Evolution isn’t my area of expertise so I can’t offer you any advice on it, either. What I do know is I’ve never met an evolved Black Cat.”

“Oh…”

Amanda had never seen one, either.

“The Black Cats I met all said the same thing, too…”

“What happened to them?”

“They’ve gone somewhere we cannot follow.”

Amanda let out a lonely sigh. As a veteran, she must have had to say countless goodbyes throughout her travels.

“You want to evolve too, Fran?”

“I’m a Black Cat. Of course I do,” Fran replied. 

Amanda moved next to her, and held her close. “I wish you well, sweetie.”

“Mm.”

“You’re strong, and you work hard. You’ll be all right.”

“Thanks.”

Despite all her encouragement, Amanda looked sad and pained. “Just remember… You’re still young, okay? You have a right to rely on us adults. You’ll always have Teacher with you, so ask him to spoil you from time to time, all right? I’m here, too.”

“But…”

“No buts. I’ve seen how much of a hard worker you are and it worries me. Don’t overdo it, okay? You’ll end up breaking yourself if you do.”

Amanda’s words had the weight of experience. She either went through this herself or knew someone who did.

“Okay.”

“Sorry for preaching at you.”

“No, it’s all right. Thanks.”

Amanda’s advice hadn’t offended her at all. Rather, her genuine concern penetrated Fran’s heart.

Alessa was finally in sight the next day.

There was a crowd in front of the gates, most of them men in armor.

Did something happen while we were gone?

A multitude was headed our way. The one leading the crowd looked familiar to me, but I couldn’t place where I had seen him before.

“It’s the Knight Brigade,” Cruise said. Now I remembered. They were wearing the same armor August was. The one leading the platoon wore something similar to August, so he must be one of the higher-ups.

“Little League Knights.”

“Heh. That’s one way of putting it.”

“Fran! Lady Amanda! Please do not mention such things in front of them. They are very proud of their positions!” Cruise cried out in genuine panic when he heard the girls’ exchange. The Adventurers and the Knight Brigade didn’t really get along with each other. It would all be over for them if they had gotten in a fight with Fran and Amanda.

“Oh, fine.”

“Hm.”

I didn’t have any impressions on the Knight Brigade in general, but I wasn’t going to go out of my way to make enemies out of them. At least, so long as they didn’t start it first.

Just stay down, Jet.

“Woof.”

It had shapeshifted into its smaller, yet still impressive, size. It’d be annoying to have to deal with the Knight Brigade’s questions.

“Besides, that’s the Knight Captain, Urs. He’s okay.”

The Knight Captain was leading his squad today. The Guildmaster had also mentioned that he was a good man.

“What’s this? Is that Lady Amanda I see?”

“Hey there. Been a while.”

“Likewise, Madam. It does us good seeing Alessa’s finest back home!”

He was a cheerful old fellow. He was shorter than Don, but his features were just as hard. In a word, he was a Macho Dandy. I wondered if he was stronger than Don, too. Don was an offense-oriented Warrior, whereas Urs was a defense-oriented Paladin. A huge shield was latched onto his back.

“Is something up?”

“Indeed, we sensed a disturbance in the town borders. There is a C-Rank monster headed our way.”

The big cities had set up magical borders around its perimeter. The barrier couldn’t ward off monsters but it was able to send an early notification to the town’s citizens. The Knight Brigade had been mobilized to deal with this threat.

“You’re going out to kill it?”

“Yes. We’ve quarantined the town, and we are about to comb the area to look for the fiend. We’ve requested assistance from the Guild as well.”

Wow. He looked like he was about to graciously ask Amanda for help, too. Urs was an upright, respectable knight.

“You’ve got a lot of young knights with you.”

“Yes. We’ve been cleaning house at the Knight Brigade. We eliminated our corrupt members, so all we have left are our spry young men.”

He must be talking about August and his lot. The Knight Brigade was respectable again with its bad apples thrown out.

A C-Rank monster, though? Could it be— 

The expedition crew’s eyes all turned to the Direwolf sitting comfortably next to the Beastgirl: Jet.

“It’s Jet.”

“Woof.”

“Goodness! Is that… a Direwolf? Small, but immensely strong!”

The Knight Captain took a step back after seeing Jet.

“… One of yours, Madam?”

“Oh! No, it’s Fran’s pet.”

“I see. This little girl… Aaah, so you’re the ‘Little Spellsword’ I’ve been hearing about.”

The Little Spellsword. Someone else had called Fran by the same nickname. She was becoming famous, but I wish they’d given her a cooler nickname.

“Well, it’s all right that you’re keeping a familiar… But could you at least put a collar on it?”

“I know, I know,” Amanda interjected quickly. “I was going to suggest that Fran wrap a scarf around its neck before we reached town. Could you issue a Familiar Registration Document for it?”

“Of course,” Urs replied. “I’ve got to ask a few questions, but I’ll take care of the paperwork.”

“Thanks for being a sweetheart, Urs.”

Urs directed his attention to Fran. “First, its species. What is it? It looks too strong to be an ordinary Onyx Wolf…”

“It’s a Darkness Wolf.”

“Wh-what! My word… I’ve never seen one before.” Urs’ eyes bulged with surprise as he filled out Jet’s particulars on parchment paper. “And its name?”

“Jet.”

“‘Jet’ it is. You are its master, yes? What is your name?”

“Fran.”

“Now, what is Jet’s gender?”

“Hm? Hold on.”

Now that Urs mentioned it, I hadn’t given it much thought, either. As I was about to check, Fran had gone around to Jet’s back and flipped up its tail.

Jet winced.

Fran, manners! You can’t intrude on Jet’s privacy like that! Well, she was still young, after all…

“Male.”

“Aroo…”

Jet put his tail between his legs and hung his head in shame. The incident had been a shock to him.

“O-oh. Alright.” Even the Knight Captain was taken aback.

A red scarf was wrapped around Jet’s neck and he was now allowed to enter Alessa without a problem. He also received a badge that indicated he was a registered familiar. He was going to have to equip this at all times. 

A similar uproar greeted us when we reached the guildhouse. The lower-level adventurers were used to being on guard against powerful monsters, so they stood in awe of the Direwolf. If Amanda hadn’t vouched for him, the uproar would’ve devolved into a panic.

“You come home bringing a C-Rank familiar… Really? You are an endless source of conversation, Fran.”

We had been summoned to the Guildmaster’s office, where he started the conversation with a snide remark. I couldn’t fault him for it.

Jet had returned to his original size and gnawed on some of the adventurers’ heads like chew toys. He was holding back, of course. He was nibbling rather than biting, but they still ended up bloody and half-dead by the end.

“And a Unique Darkness Wolf, at that. It’s already a rare species to begin with.”

Unique? What was that supposed to mean? Was Jet no ordinary Darkness Wolf?

“Jet’s a Unique?”

“Oh, you didn’t notice? Darkness Wolves usually have black fur with white streaks on them, but Jet here has streaks of red mixed in on his neck. You can’t quite see them since the scarf is covering them. Darkness Wolves don’t usually come with Unique Skills, either, especially at Level 1.”

Damn, seriously? I didn’t know that. I couldn’t know that since I’d never seen any other Darkness Wolves. I thought Jet was your garden-variety Direwolf.

“In any case, I congratulate you for accomplishing your mission. Amanda has vouched for your capabilities, and everyone in the guild saw you come in with your familiar. No one in their right mind would be suspicious of you now.”

“Hm.”

“Pick up your guild card from reception. I’ve given you a stamp which will allow you to enter the Ulmutt dungeon.”

Nice, now we could get a move on.

Let’s go to the receptionist ASAP!

“Okay. I’ll be going now.”

“One more thing. How about you look at your Classes when you get downstairs? You might have unlocked a few more. We usually charge 500G to change Classes, but I’ll let you do it for free as a parting gift.”

Parting gift? That’s pennies! Although I wasn’t about to look a gift horse in the mouth.

“Thanks.”

“When will you leave for Ulmutt?”

“Soon.”

“I see. We’re going to miss you.”

“… Didn’t think you would.”

“Hahaha. Come now, you’ve been full of surprises ever since you came here, for better or for worse. Although, I am also relieved that we’re going to get some peace and quiet again.”

“Hm. Thank you for taking care of me.”

Fran bowed deeply, and the Guildmaster’s eyes bulged. This was the last thing he had seen coming.

Give her some credit, GM. Fran could be polite when she wanted to.

She shut the door. From beyond it, I could hear the Guildmaster mutter to himself.

“Heh. Always full of surprises.”

Thanks, GM. Sorry for all the trouble.

“Ready? Cheers!”

“Cheers.”

“Cheers!”

Night had fallen on the day we returned from the dungeon investigation.

Fran was in a bar, sharing a table with Nell and Amanda. They were throwing a farewell party for her since she told them she was leaving Alessa.

“Aww, I’m going to be so lonely without you, Fran!”

“Me too. Do you have to go?”

“Yeah. I wanna see the dungeon.”

“Which is more important: me or the dungeon?!”

“Of course the dungeon is! She just met you, Amanda! Then again, we’ve known each other for almost a month, haven’t we?”

“So what if you’ve known her for a month! I actually ate and slept together with Fran!”

The conversation moved from how Krad’s party, Dragon Roar, had failed their exam, to how Don had been turned down by a woman. The drinks kept coming, and the two women got more intoxicated with every round. They went into such a frenzy petting Jet that he retreated into Fran’s shadow and wouldn’t come out.

“Maybe I should come with you, Fran.”

“What about the orphanage?”

“Ooh, you knew about that? The orphanage will be fine. They have caretakers who’ll look after them. Think of it this way, if I went out on quests, I could use the rewards to raise money for the orphanage. So let’s raid some dungeons together, Fran!”

“I don’t mind.”

Amanda knew the truth about us so I didn’t mind, either. The only problem was Amanda’s overwhelming strength. It might prevent Fran from growing stronger.

“What? Really? Nice!”

“Nope, not happening.”

Nell stopped her, however. It was only natural that she didn’t want to see the only A-Rank in town to leave. But there was more to the story.

“Come on, Nell, why not?”

“Did you forget about your contract?”

“Oh. That. Ugh, I can’t believe I’m bound by that stupid contract!”

“Your fault for going along with Klimt’s sweet words.”

“Urgghhhh…”

“Contract?”

“Yes! I can only leave Alessa if it’s on Guild-related duty!”

“Why?”

“Well, you see—”

“Amanda. There are people here!”

“Oh yeah. Silence!”

Amanda created a soundproof barrier made of wind. It was a useful spell when you needed to discuss private matters, but the alcohol was clearly getting to her. She had planned to cast the dome around us but inadvertently included the table next to us, too. Confused diners looked confused as the bustle of the pub fell into hushed silence.

“So that dungeon we went to? It’s pretty important. It can produce a large amount of Magistone while being safer to gather compared to a conventional mine.”

That was true. I could see why the military would want to get their hands on it.

“But dungeons are under guild supervision, right? Meaning that the government can’t get their hands on them, despite really wanting to.”

“Uh-huh.”

Doubtless the government would want to undermine the guild’s supervision over the dungeon, but the kingdom was bound to the guild under an agreement.

“Alessa is located close to the border of the Raydoss Kingdom up north.”

“It is?”

“Yes. We don’t get along with Raydoss very well, and they tend to be quite violent. Worse come to worst, they might move in to annex Alessa.”

Nell drew a simple map with the sauce on her plate as she explained to us the relations between our neighbors and us. The kingdom north of Granzell looked quite large.

“We can’t keep this matter about a great Magistone mine a secret forever, you know. It’s bound to come to light at some point.”

“Granzell is using that as an excuse to put more dungeons under their supervision. Amanda scared them off once, though.”

“We don’t want to give the government our dungeon. It’s the only thing Alessa has going for it. The Guild would be devastated by its loss!”

“Which means we won’t get paid!”

“We convinced the government that Alessa would be able to defend itself in case of an invasion. Our A-Rank is proof of that.”

That was why Amanda wasn’t allowed to leave Alessa.

“Even the government doesn’t trust its own Knight Brigade. Urs is only stationed here because he’s an Alessan, born and raised. It used to be worse before he came along!”

I guess August became Knight Lieutenant not only through bribery, but also for the purpose of harassing locals.

“And that is why I can’t leave this city!”

“I see.”

“There was so many things I wanted to teach you, too!” Amanda yelled while hugging Fran.

“For the last time, Amanda, you can’t leave!”

“Then let me treat you tonight!”

“Yes! I’ve been waiting for you to say that!”

“Not you, Nell.”

“Cheapskate!”

“Call me a cheapskate, I don’t care! Fran, you won’t forget me, will you?”

“I won’t.”

We wouldn’t soon forget all the beatings she handed us.

“What! Fran, you’re leaving town?!”

“Wh-what?!”

The adventurer at the next table overheard our conversation. Silence had worn off at some point. The man was a Dwarf. He looked very dwarfish with his giant pitcher full of ale. His mug was as big as his head. Who was he? He looked familiar somehow…

Now I remember. This was the dwarf who had come as backup after our first encounter with the goblin army. I think his name was Elevent.

“Seriously?!”

“Damn it, I was gonna ask you to join my party!”

“Get in line, buddy!”

“Frannie, nooooo!”

“You shoulda told us sooner!”

There sure were a lot of adventurers in this pub. It was only natural, considering the place was located next to the Guild. The rest of the adventurers soon piled in at our table.

“It’s such a shame, Fran. We were only getting to know each other.”

“I haven’t paid you back yet, dammit!”

Furion and Krad had been drinking here as well. It looked like they had become friends at some point.

“Where are you going?”

“Ulmutt.”

The adventurers roared at Fran’s response. Ulmutt was a place they all aspired to go.

“Ooh, that dungeon!”

“Man, I wish I could go.”

“Wahaha! Then you better get your rank up!”

“Let’s all raise our glass to send young Fran off!”

The adventurers took to that suggestion with melodious uproar.

“Yeah!”

“Cheers!”

“More beer!”

“Gahahaha!”

“Chug! Chug! Chug!”

To me, it looked like they were using Fran as an excuse to drink.

“You wanna have some, Fran?”

“Hm.”

“This isn’t juice! It’s better than juice!”

“Amanda! She’s not supposed to drink that!”

“Seriously though, it’s just wheat juice!”

“I’ll take it.”

Nell took away the pitcher of “wheat juice” just as Fran was reaching for it. Good job, Nell!

“No!”

She’s right. You’re still too young for beer.

“Come on, let the girl live a little!”

“Come on.”

Call me a killjoy, but this was one thing I wouldn’t let Fran have! She should know about the dangers of alcohol by seeing the damage it was doing to Amanda!

“No means no. I’m confiscating this.”

“Oooh! Nell’s chuggin’!”

“Nice!”

Nell downed the glass of beer in one gulp as the rowdy group of adventurers cheered her on.

“Having fun, Fran?”

“Yeah.”

At least Fran was enjoying herself. The drinking continued until everyone dropped, and it was almost the next day by the time we got back to our room. Jet had fallen asleep in Fran’s shadow.

Are you all right?

“Yeah.”

She didn’t drink anything but she was at the bar. With that amount of alcohol going around I wouldn’t be surprised if she got drunk off the vapors.

Poison Resistance didn’t seem to help with alcohol, either. We asked Nell about this fact and she chalked it up to the wisdom of God. It seemed that God himself acknowledged drink as a method of escaping the sorrows of one’s life.

“I’m okay.”

Are you sure?

“Yeah.”

Are you hungry?

If she was full then she could have breakfast once she woke up.

“Yes. Curry?”

No, not curry. Wait… Okay, now we’re good.

The inn’s clock ticked as it changed to the following day. It was a simple machine powered by magic, nothing fancy. There were bigger clocks placed out on the streets and ones you could hang on walls. However, I had yet to see a watch in this world. I guess they couldn’t make the mechanisms small enough.

This world had a calendar, too. There were thirty days in each month with a thirty-first day every three months. They had a special holiday called the Moon Feast on that thirty-first day. It signalled the changing of the seasons. Two thirty day months and one thirty-one day month consisted a season, which made a full seasonal rotation take three hundred and sixty-four days. Today was the 13th of March—if they called it that. 

Hold on—

I took a bowl full of mysterious white, creamy stuff out of the Pocket Dimension.

In reality, it was a batter made of strong flour and sugar. I had secretly prepared it when we were cooking en masse. We used flour and strong flour in our other recipes too, so Fran didn’t notice when I hid this batter away next to the bread dough rolls.

We’re indoors, but we’ll be fine so long as we’re careful.

I telekinetically operated the frying pan and lit a fire under it with a fire spell. I poured some oil into it and poured the batter out on top of it. The batter started frying with a satisfying sizzle as it expanded and puffed up. I flipped it over to fry the other side then put two of them onto a plate. I laid on some whipped cream and poured some honey over it, and then I topped it off with some fruit.

Here you go.

“What’s this? It smells sweet.”

It’s called a pancake. I wanted to bake you a party cake, but that was impossible with our time, ingredients, and skill constraints. This was the least I can do. It’s fresh off the pan so it should be delicious.

“Why? What’s the occasion?”

It has been exactly one month since the day we met. I wanted to do something special to celebrate.

The batter was easy enough to make, but the whipped cream was a different matter. They didn’t sell the stuff in liquid form, so I had to split some milk on my own.

“This cake is for me?”

Fran’s eyes widened as she looked at the fluffy pancakes that were presented to her on a plate floating in mid-air.

They’re pancakes, technically, but yes.

She hadn’t seen this coming. The surprise was a success!

While they’re hot, Fran.

“Okay. Let’s eat…”

Fran’s fork went through the two layers of pancake, which had been decorated with whipped cream and fruit. She cut a piece of it and slowly carried it into her mouth.

What do you think?

“It’s good. Really good.”

Fran munched away. I was glad that she liked it. She carried on eating her pancakes in silent reverie.

Come on, you’re getting it all over yourself.

“Mm.”

I wiped the edges of her mouth with a towel. She felt like being pampered today, it seemed.

There you go, all clean.

“Thanks.”

She carried on munching.

Aah, you’re making a mess again!

“It’s the cake’s fault for being so good.”

All right, all right.

Fran continued to silently stuff her cheeks with pancake. She looked like a squirrel with her cheeks puffed out. She finished her meal and let out a satisfied sigh. A content smile decorated her lips.

Thank god for pancakes.

“That was good. Thank you.”

You are very welcome.

Fran clapped her hands together and bowed her head.

“Teacher?”

Yeah?

“Thanks.”

Anytime.

These pancakes were the most difficult flapjacks I had ever made in my conscious existence. I had to make sure Fran wasn’t looking, and the whipped cream…

But her smile was more than worth the trouble of it all.

I was the one who should be thanking her. Thank you for using me. Thank you for going on this adventure with me. Thank you for finding me.

I had so much fun in the past month.

And I was sure there was more to come.