Chapter 36 Exploration, And A Steady Advancement.

Jack turned around, "Regeneration?" He gasped, seeing the club rush toward his face.

Jack ducked, and an arrow flew at high speed, piercing the monster's neck. "Run!" Aella yelled, glaring at him.

"Not yet!" Jack growled, "If he regenerates, then we will do this!" Jack swung his dagger, slashing the monster's side.

"Light him up!" Jack shouted, and Arad lifted his staff, aiming at the monster's side with a grin, "I see. We will roast him!" [Firebolt] [Firebolt] [Firebolt]

KA-DON! KA-DON! KA-DON!

As the flame exploded, Jack rolled away. He watched the monster growl and fall on his back. The charred wound didn't regenerate, "I was right!" Jack smiled, leaping at the monster.

Since the monster was dealing with the first time his wounds didn't regenerate, Jack took the chance to give him more wounds, swinging his dagger broader than a mage's hat.

"JACK! Move away, fine incoming!" Arad pointed his staff at the monster. "AWO!" The wolves cut his way, trying to bite his arm off.

THUD! Aella rushed in, swinging Arad's sword that she kept on her.

CLANG! SLASH! CLING! With a three-hit combo, she diced the wolves. CRACK! But Arad's sword shattered in her hands, and the blade separated from the handle.

"That isn't my mistake!" She cried, but Arad pushed her to the side, "Let's save Jack first!"

Arad aimed at the monster with a crimson flame blooming on the tip of his staff. [Firebolt] [Firebolt] [Firebolt]

Jack leaped away, letting the monster get charred. But Arad wasn't done yet.

[Firebolt] [Firebolt] [Firebolt] [Firebolt] [Firebolt] [Firebolt] He fired again, making sure the monster died and that the regeneration will never kick again.

As the fight ended, Jack looked back, smiling with a thumb up, "We made it,"

"Don't 'We made it' Me!" Arad rushed toward him, "You almost got yourself killed. Don't go sneaking on a monster we know nothing about."

Jack wasn't that good in close confrontations. As a rogue, he was more skilled in stabbing things from the back and taking down their vital organs for an instant kill or massive damage.

The trade-off is that Jack will be in trouble if the target survives.

"Well, I thought he would die if I stabbed the liver and sliced the main blood vessel." Jack laughed, "But those are some nice words from someone who didn't want me at his party yesterday."

Arad sighed, "Don't get yourself killed. Especially when we need every member."

Jack smiled, "Don't worry, chief." He sheathed his dagger, "I might not look like it, but I'm talented in not dying. As proof, I'm still standing here."

Aella and Arad stared at him, "You won't laugh? I thought it was a good joke," Jack shrugged it off and looked at the monsters around.

"Aella, you broke chiefs sword." Jack spotted the blade on the ground.

Aella looked to the side, averting her eyes from Arad, "It wasn't my fault. The blade weak."

Arad stared at her with an exhausted face, sighting as his eyes felt heavy, "The sword was new,"

Jack scratched his chin, "Hold up, chief. Aella is right." He grabbed the blade and inspected it, "See this weld between the blade and the handle?"

Arad and Aella approached, "What is the problem?"

"This sword is intentionally made weak. It could probably handle fighters from level one to seven, but higher than that is too much." Jack said, looking at the handle.

"Explain more." Arad looked at him.

Jack gave Arad a puzzled look, "Those welds are a placeholder for the magic stone. Blacksmiths make them like this so they can sell to low-level adventurers while having the option to make powerful weapons for the high-leveled ones." Jack explained.

"I'm a level twelve fighter, so this blade breaking isn't my mistake?" Aella said with a smile, but Jack stared at her.

"A great fighter can tune his power down when using a low-level weapon. That means you aren't that skilled with swords."

Aella sighed, "Fine, I'm a failure swordswoman. I'm far better with bows."

"Does that matter?" Arad looked at her, "You're all fighters."

"Don't you remember what Alcott explained earlier? Fighters are diverse, each with their unique weapon and skills." She pouted, "I'm an arcane archer. A fighter who mixes some magic with archery to achieve outstanding accuracy and speed."

"I only saw a little bit of magic from you. Can't you use any big spells?" Arad stared at her. If she can, then he might learn a thing or two from her.

Aella smiled, puffing her already sizeable chest. "I know spells up to 4-tier. But all wind-based."

"Can you show me some?" Arad looked at her, his eyes glowing with a purple flare.

Aella looked toward Jack, a bit troubled. "Let's leave it for later." She giggled with a wry smile. "We need to focus on getting out."

"Come on. I might find it useful." Arad looked at her with an intense glare.

"Chief, let it go for now." Jack cut them, "Finish learning from the spell book we got from Jeremy, and then ask her for more."

[Aella might not be able to use the magic she knows. Or at least, she isn't comfortable with it.]

^Teaching isn't the same as using,^

[No, it is. Magic relies heavily on the caster's ability to focus.] Mom started explaining. [Slight shifts in the emotions like distress or fear can cause the magic to fail. Since the caster can't concentrate.]

^So I can stop a caster from using magic?^

[No, dedicated casters have minds more resilient than a stone wall. Those people are the last ones to feel fear or distress.]

"Fine, let's keep pushing forward." Arad sighed, grabbing the spell book and looking inside it. He still couldn't understand a single word.

^Mom, do you know any spells from mother?^

[I know a lot of void magic, but you must reach the young state to use it effectively.]

^Why?^

[Void step is void magic.] Mom started talking in Arad's head, [Your body can't take it until you grow. Like how red wyrmlings can burn themselves with their flame.]

Deeper into the cave, the party faces another two batches of monsters that they quickly dispatched. The dungeon started to seem easy after they found out how to kill the green humanoid monsters.

Jack smiled, looking toward Arad, "This is a B-rank dungeon? We're stronger than normal." There was some reality in his words, but he couldn't be more wrong.

[He's the last one who should say those words.]

"Don't let your guard down. We might face a powerful monster." Arad replied while gently touching the walls.

"I was trying to lift our morale a bit. It won't help if we were scared." Jack sighed, approaching Arad, "Let me do the inspection. I have more experience with traps,"

Jack started looking around to make sure the way was safe. And as expected, he discovered several traps ranging from arrows to pitfalls.

Aella took the arrows to use them. Arad looked into the pitfalls and found them empty.

Jack looked at Arad, glaring down at the pit. "Chief, do you want to find a corpse or something?"

Arad nodded, "We didn't find who killed the monsters earlier. I bet they are still around." He replied.