Although it would be fine either way, Roswald didn’t try to dash ahead to get the monsters or didn’t try to stay behind and just watch me do the fighting. Instead of that, he just watched the surroundings and analyzed the ice on the walls. Thanks to all the fighting that Gcien did over the week, I believed that it had thinned out a bit, but it wasn’t nearly enough.

  ‘Mana is more dense in the deepest parts of the dungeon and then it begins to affect the other areas. The deeper areas are also longer and can host more monsters, and things can become even more dangerous if the monsters began to reproduce.’

  In any case, the encounter rate was truly fearsome, so I decided to increase my Fire Affinity a bit more. I didn’t have multipliers for that, so I had to use a lot of experience, but I had saved up a lot of experience in the st week.

  “What do you know about this byrinth?”

  “What do you mean by that?”

  “I want to know exactly what is waiting for us ahead.”

  “Wouldn’t it be boring to know that stuff ahead instead of enjoying the surprises?”

  “Not really.”

  “Hahaha, you are as serious as they said, friend!”

  “It seems that they did more than just ying the groundwork when it comes to delivering information about me.”

  “You consider that much information?”

  I felt like sighing. This guy was indeed doing his best to keep the information about the byrinth as unclear as possible. This type of guy was good at pying dumb, so insisting on it wouldn’t change a thing.

  In the end, the extra information would give me some time to prepare, but it wasn’t like I needed a lot of it just to deal with some monsters. Things might be different in the fourth and fifth yer of the byrinth, though.

  “By the way, did you give up on finding someone to look after this little girl?”

  As expected, this guy was sharp… I didn’t say a single thing or did anything too obvious that would have made it clear that was my goal. Still, that would be the kind of assumption that someone who believed that I wasn’t a monster like other vampires would do.

  “Ah, don’t look at me like that. It just seemed pretty obvious. Most people can fear you and fear will cloud their judgment, but I am different.”

  He had a point, but I still felt bothered by it. Aside from screw looses like Zyra and her crew, no one had any reason to give me a vote of confidence, even those who were stronger than me were cautious around me to some extent.

  “I guess you are like that. Even if you have been found out, you can’t bring yourself to confirm it. Regardless, it would have been different before the war, but I don’t think that the little girl will find much peace here. There are some people who won’t treat her badly, but I can’t say that those people won’t take advantage of her by raising her to become a weapon against the harpies in the future.”

  That seemed logical… the twilight brotherhood fit that role clearly. That was why I had given up on finding someone to look after Alissandra here. My next option was Felyndor, but I was hesitant to head there and risking finding Nimir. I thought of him as a little brother until now, so it would be awkward if I confirmed that he was she.

  ‘Give me a break. I don’t need that kind of issue in my life.’

  I couldn’t help but feel a bit of curiosity about how Nimir was faring these days. Was he still the same awkward, timid person I remembered, or had he grown into someone stronger and more confident? Part of me wanted to check in on him, but I knew better.

  For his sake, it was better if we stayed apart for a few more years. He needed time to grow without me covering for him, influencing his every step. If he was ever going to become someone truly capable, he needed to meet others who could shape his life in positive ways, people who could offer him perspectives and experiences I couldn’t.

  Staying away wasn’t easy, but it was necessary. I had to trust that time and space would help him become the person he could be.

  In any case, we reached the first boss chamber after two hours. We could have been faster, but I made sure to get the mana cores from the monsters. I also got their cws, just in case.

  “That is an interesting vehicle. You have three. It was able to keep up with us for so long while you were carrying that little girl.”

  “They are common in the Empire.”

  “Yeah, I have heard of that, but I can’t imagine them selling those to you.”

  “Anyway, I will deal with the boss. You look after Alissandra, Gcien.”

  “Awoo.”

  “It kind of hurts to be less trusted than a beast.”

  This would be the first real test of my new bow… it was new because of the effects. It was created almost three years ago, after all. Without wasting time, we stepped into the boss chamber and soon I found the boss… I was a bit surprised since Gcien fought this and won, but the boss was a mini T-Rex covered in ice scales.

  “GRUUUAAAAARRRGHHH!!!”

  Even the roar seemed like the real deal… In any case, the monster was retively slow, so soon I began to bombard its face with Rapid Fire… the arrows pierced quite deeply and that made a lot of blood gush from the wounds.

  You received 500 experience points.

  You completed a trial. Please choose between the csses: Earth Mage, Dark Scrollmaker, and Spellbde (Bloody Bde).

  You obtained the Earth Mage css.

  You unlocked the Earth Affinity parameter.

  You unlocked the Aptitude: Stone Resonance.

  You unlocked the skill: Rock Barrage.

  You unlocked the skill: Earthen Wall.

  Stone Resonance: Gain experience for every second an enemy is affected by earth-based crowd control or damaged.

  Rock Barrage: Summon a cluster of jagged stones and unch them at high speed toward a target or area. The stones deal physical and magical damage, scaling with Earth Affinity and magic. Cost: 30 Mana.

  Earthen Wall: Create a sturdy barrier of earth and stone to block enemy attacks and restrict their movement. At higher levels, the wall becomes rger and more durable, and you can create it at a greater distance. Cost: 50 Mana.

  I couldn’t help but frown when the monster fell on the ground… that had been just too easy. I just used Rapid Fire a couple of times with wooden arrows. The skill wasn’t at an insane level, but it had been quite effective. Still, perhaps I was expecting too much of a challenge from the first boss of this byrinth.

  Someone under your protection received the chance to obtain a css, but they can’t choose it. You will have to make the choice for them.

  Alissandra completed a trial. Please choose between the csses: Earth Mage, Scrollmaker, and Spellbde).

  I also picked Earth Mage for Alissandra since she would have a defensive spell… but it seemed off to grant her earth affinity when she was a harpy. Regardless, perhaps I really shouldn’t take her to the next boss fight. The csses will become more and more offensive oriented.

  ‘Unless there is a way for me to seal her abilities while she grows… Kids with superpowers don’t sound like a perfect combination.’

  “Is there something bothering you, friend? By the way, your skill with the bow is rather impressive. It would put our half-elves to shame.”

  I ignored him and kept thinking about that issue… I was sure that there were some artifacts out there that seal the skills of prisoners or captives, but I didn’t want that for Alissandra. Unless I find a solution to this issue, I will have to keep her outside before the next boss battle.

  “Let’s get going. I want to finish this in less than three days.”

  “Less than three days? Aren’t you pnning to stop to sleep or anything?”

  “No.”

  Roswald looked completely baffled when I told him my pns. I couldn’t tell if he was genuinely surprised or just pretending. It was, as usual, hard to read him. Either way, it didn’t matter. A seasoned fighter like him should have some experience pushing his limits, fighting for several days without rest, even without stopping to sleep.

  Then again, I couldn’t ignore one gring issue. Stamina had to be his weak point. His build and fighting style didn’t scream endurance; they relied more on bursts of strength and speed. If he had to sustain that for days on end, he’d burn out fast. That’s probably why my pns seemed ridiculous to him. For someone like Roswald, the idea of prolonged, grueling fights might as well be suicide.

  “I have some stamina potions with me, so you don’t have to worry about that. You can also leave the enemies to me for quite a while.”

  “You aren’t joking about that, huh? You must have had a tough life if you think that this is a feasible pn.”

  In any case, I chopped off the parts of the boss with Wind Shurikens to dismantle it ter. I had increased my number of magic bags, but even that was starting to become a bother. Keeping more than fifteen of them on my belt was that annoying. I had to increase the ranks of their effects. That would exponentially make them much more useful.

  Once that was done, we headed to the next section and soon I noticed that the temperature dropped even more. Alissandra was still sleeping peacefully, but I didn’t think that she would feel that comfortable in the fifth section.

  ‘I need to make her some anti-cold items. My cloak alone won’t be enough for long.’

  While I was thinking about that, the new enemies also emerged from the walls as soon as we stepped on the next section… It was a creature covered in ice. Its legs were long and thin, looking like twisted icicles with glowing blue veins running through them. The body was clear and shining like frozen water, and its many eyes glowed a white, making it look both scary and deadly. It moved quickly and quietly, crawling on the ceiling of the byrinth with ease, its sharp cws gripping everything it touches… A frost spider.

  WritingMachineGun