The rest of the dungeon was a breeze, and the boss floor at 45 was an utter joke. Brie's look of frustration suggested the same feelings Sora had. They chit-chatted a bit more while they worked through the last dungeon floors.
"Something's off. Usually, dungeons get more difficult the further we go in, but with the two of us, this has been nothing, but a breeze and the rewards have been… lackluster." Brie said anxiously.
"You're right, I mean, you are a rank S adventurer, are you not?" Sora asked her, curiously.
"Ugh, I'm sorry, I just remembered I told you that I was rank A. You wouldn't imagine the number of times I've been swindled by arrogant assholes thinking they can pull one off on me just because they're a group of men. I've had to teach some, the hard way, don't mess with a beautiful young lady." Brie said apathetically.
Sensing the sincerity of her voice, Sora decided to give her a reassuring pat on the back. "You know, you're quite beautiful for someone who is so skillful and determined to improve. I like that about you."
She jumped, at first. But quickly realized he wasn't a threat.
"Thanks, my parents are complete jerks and think I'm wasting my life away and should be at some prestigious University for magic. Are you still in school or did you decide not to continue down the schooling route once you graduated? How old are you, anyway?"
"I'm 20 and yeah, I definitely decided schooling wasn't right for me anymore," he lied.
"Yeah, my parents ended up taking second jobs when they noticed my potential. They used every penny to ensure I attended and graduated from Arcadia: The school of the magically gifted."
"That was very selfless of them. Why didn't you want to continue to the next level?" Sora asked, and he quickly had to ask his system, "What are the schools and how do they work on Exteria?"
[Arcadia is the main branch for humans. She graduated from the highest level. There are next level schools that focus on specific training. They are very expensive and hard to get into. After another inspection, it looks like she received several offers from top tier Arcadia: Next Generations Universities, but to the dismay of her parents, turned them down and focused on adventuring. She graduated last year at A rank and just recently, about three weeks ago, hit rank S. I suggest you say you were home schooled.]
"I want to forge my own path in life. I don't want to spend it wasted in some schooling system that will eventually just hand me a job that takes a percentage away to pay for my tuition. Plus, I love the freedom of being able to do what I want, when I want, even if it drives my parents nuts. I swear, if I didn't pay them an absurd rent, they would have kicked me out a long time ago," Brie said.
"Why not just find your own place?" Sora asked.
"Ha. I swear, you're strange. It's like you've been living under a rock. My parents live in a great neighborhood near a quest board. For what I pay them in rent, I could get a one-bedroom place in a much more dangerous part of town. Screw that," she said with a laugh.
"System, remind me to ask you more about this world, later. Analyze Floor Fifty-Five."
Sora was too late; Brie had already pushed open the door.
"Brie, get down! Now!" Sora shouted frantically.
[Boss floor fifty-five: SS rank Demon. Subclass: Banshee. Uses a high-pitched screech to impair its' victims, then drinks the blood of them to gain their power. Use caution. They are very difficult to get near, but if you're able to get close enough to them, they are weak to physical attacks.]
"SCRRRREEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEECH."
Brie collapsed to the floor. Sora ran over to her and used wind magic to project the beast away. She was clearly unconscious with blood pouring from her ears.
"System, analyze, inspect, use anything you think that can help me here!"
[A potion would help immensely. Use water magic to wake her up and force her to drink a potion.. Use wind magic to cover your ears and use fire magic to light up this room and try to pin the banshee down. Also use wind magic over Brie's ears to protect her.]
Well, Sora hoped this wouldn't piss her off too much, "Aqua Pump!" he shouted.
Water shot from Sora's hand completely drenching Brie with water.
"What. Do. You. Think. You. Are. Doing. YOU PERVERT!!!! I KNEW YOU JUST WANTED TO CATCH A PEAK AND I SHOULDN'T HAVE TRUSTED YOU!" she shouted as she smacked Sora, knocking his mask off.
"HOLY SHIT … you're…. This can't be happening… You're Sora Lockheart!!!!!!"
"Er, yeah. I am. But if you have a potion, please drink it. It's a SS demon, a banshee. I can handle it. I promise."
"System, is there any magic I have that can make her more comfortable? She's soaked."
[Casting safe flame on temporary party member Brie Reinhardt. She will be warm within 2 minutes.]
"Safe flame," Sora said, as he tossed her the mask and mouthed "Drink the potion!"
Sora could sense the banshee's presence. "Flame pillars," He shouted, attempting to lock the banshee inside his pillars of flame.
Unfortunately, it was quick enough to evade them.
Brie finally drank the potion. Sora could see the blood dry around her ears, and he could see the beauty and life return to her face.
"Calm breeze," Sora said as he cast his wind magic around her ears, so that she could only hear the sound of the wind magic, as the banshee continued to shriek in anger.
"Thank you, Sora, I'm so sorry for being nosy, rude, and lying…" Sora could hear her yelling.
Sora waved his arms to signal he didn't mind.
"Torch, flame spiral! Torch! Flame shield! Winds of fury!" Sora shouted, trying to pin this banshee down while also keeping it from getting close to Brie.
"This thing is really annoying, what else do you know about Banshee's Brie? What could I use to pin this sneaky little bastard down?" Sora asked.
"What Sora?" I can't hear you, she yelled while motioning toward her ears.
'Right. I did cast a spell on her ears…'
"System, I could use some more help here."
[Try pinning it to the back wall. You're firing aimlessly, allowing it to move about its large nest. When you start seeing bones and dried up corpses, you know you're close to a wall.]
After several minutes of playing cat and mouse with the banshee, Sora finally noticed bones and heard Brie shriek in fear.
"Flame spiral! Flame whip! Sword of fury! Flame Drive!"
SCREEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEECH.
[You have injured the banshee. Quickly, finish it!]
"Flame pillars! Flame spiral! Flame Slash!"
[Congratulations, you defeated a SS ranked Demon beast, subclass. Banshee. Reward: 3 instant level ups. You have also received 10,000 experience points for clearing a dungeon. Congratulations, you are now level 15! You have 100 HP. Other rewards:
HP restored
Passive regeneration now level 2: You will regain 1 HP per 45 seconds without receiving damage.
Treasure obtained: 2 Ultravites.
Special skill(s) acquired: Ancient Screech (SS)
20 potions
Ancient Scepter of the Elves: Monstrosity (SS)]
"System, how do I disengage my current spells?"
[Just think, release.]
"Release," Sora said, while making a hand motion for show.
Brie unexpectedly jumped on Sora, wrapping her arms around his shoulders. She gave him a big hug.
"I owe you, big time! Did you really mean it when you wanted to be a full-time party member with me? I'm in one now, but it's just with my best friend, Sasha. She's a vampire. Maybe you'd like to meet her too? But seriously, thank you, you can keep all the treasure!"
"System, how do I transfer the special skill and ancient scepter?"
[Error. Items can only be transferred between party members.]
"Let's go see what this banshee has for us!" Brie said, as she excitedly ran toward an open treasure chest.
"Uh, Brie, no need." Sora said.
As she turned around and saw him holding the scepter and two large, circular, titanium pieces of what my system called Ultravites.
"How the heck do you have that already?" she said with a smile, while quickly catching one of the Ultravites Sora tossed her way.
"Nope. No way I can accept this. You know this is the absolute highest level of currency we have on this planet, right?! Are you mad?!" Brie argued.
"That's not all. You helped me so much, please keep it. I have more from this dungeon, but can we go back to my place and talk about this whole partying up thing?"
Sora asked as he handed Brie a potion.
"Woah, do you have a dimensional void ability as well?" she asked.
"Yeah, it's kind of nice." he said with a grin.
"Well, that shouldn't be a surprise. After all, you're the infamous Sora Lockheart, sexiest man alive since you turned 18, famed SSS adventurer said to be half-god and key member of the King's closest council," she giggled.
'I liked when she giggles, it was cute,'
"Well, the dungeons, bound to collapse any time now, so, shall we?" Brie asked, while motioning toward the exit.
She grabbed his hand and sprinted, and as they walked through the exit, they teleported to where he first entered the dungeon, which seemed like an eternity ago, only to see the sun slowly starting to rise.
"This sunrise is beautiful, my house is this way, would you like to join me?" Sora said, unable to contain his excitement.
She paused for a moment. Sora wasn't sure if she paused because the sunrise was truly beautiful, or if she was considering the possibilities of what returning to Sora's place insinuated, or just the possibilities that she just ran into the one of the very few SSS rank adventurers known on this planet.
After what felt like days, she finally said, "Yes, I think I'd like that."
She smiled and her beautiful teal eyes looked Sora deeply in the eyes. Her beautiful blue hair blew slightly with the breeze.
"This was so much better than being a dying mummy on Earth."