LIGHTNOVELONLINE Chapter 47: Separate Paths and a Prayer
Kazue POV
My laughter echoed through the dimly lit dungeon.
After gathering the fangs of my first victim I could not help but laugh.
I continued moving forward and saw that the path branches off into 5 different paths.
It seems that all of the paths have already been taken by other adventurers.
“I’m late…” <Kazue>
I randomly chose one of the paths and entered the second passage from the right.
As I pass through the passage of the dungeon I saw a looted treasure chest and dead kobolds along the way.
“Aaa… so far I’ve seen hundreds of dead kobolds and some treasure chests already. But those guys did not even leave anything for the latecomers. Those senpais… they raided the place… fufufu…” <Kazue>
I cried while I laughed traversing the dungeon hastily fearing that those senpais might leave the dungeon empty.
*******
“Eh? Isn’t this the little newbie?” <Male Voice>
A voice rang from the deeper parts of the dungeon.
Wearing light-plated armor and a two-handed sword on his hand was Andrew, the adventurer that I dueled yesterday.
He was on guard for some reason.
“Whew… I thought it was a monster, but apparently, it’s only the newbie. What’s up with the creepy… laugh?” < Male Voice /Andrew>
Andrew was unsure if I was laughing or just making a weird noise.
I was still frustrated by the fact that veteran members of the raid deceived me.
I was in a bad mood and did not want to even talk to Andrew.
I walked past him without saying a word.
“??? Hey, hey? What’s with the cold shoulder, aren’t we buddies who’ve crossed swords at one time?” <Andrew>
Andrew-san tried to tap my shoulders but I dodged his hands making him stumble.
“Oi, oi… you don’t have to dodge right?” <Andrew>
“SHUT UP DON’T TALK TO ME!” <Kazue>
He took a step back away from me after I let out the anger in my voice.
I looked away and continued to walk forward.
Andrew-san in turn scratched his nose and his head after... He was probably thinking about the reason why I was so grumpy.
“Ah!... I got it! AHAHAHA, Right, Right…. So that’s what happened huh… I see, no wonder you’re in a bad mood.” <Andrew>
It seems that he came up with an idea of why I’m in a bad mood.
I knew that he had the right idea since his tone has a smug attitude to it.
It was the voice of someone realizing that someone had fallen for someone’s prank.
“Don’t worry, Little miss, it happens to every newcomer… it’s kinda like an “initiation” for the newcomers who join the raid every year. Don’t feel too bad.” <Andrew>
“Tsk.” <Kazue>
He sounded cheerful and full of enthusiasm which only made my mood worse.
I walked faster to leave him and continue to look for my next target.
I found a large cavern further inside.
As I walked inside the large cavern, I saw Andrew-san’s party member who was gathering materials from defeated kobolds.
I clicked my tongue this time not because I was in a bad mood but because I was envious.
There were about 15 dead kobolds on the ground.
“That’s about 150,000 DAL, no… if we add the fangs. That's a total of about 225,000 DAL… Kuuuhk-teary-…” <Kazue>
My voice cracked and I was about to tear up.
From the looks of it, this cavern is what they call a “Monster house”.
As Shaina explained to me before, a monster house was a certain area in a dungeon where a bunch of monsters gather.
This was not the first time I’d been in a “monster house”.
Shaina pointed to me when I told her my stories some time ago.
It was during the time I, together with Rio and the Water Oath party was trapped inside the “Undead King Lair”.
The room where we fought the Undead Knight was an example of a “Monster House”.
A monster house can house a horde of monsters, a mini-boss, or a boss.
So, a "boss room" can be considered a “Monster House”.
Adventurers would look for these monster houses since 1 out of 5 times, you can find a treasure chest within those “Monster Houses”.
This is excluding the "boss" and "mini-boss" rooms which have a 100% chance of housing a treasure chest.
One of the party members of Andrew-san notices my entrance to the cavern and pointed his finger in my direction.
[If I’m remembering correctly it was the spear user of the party… what was his name again… was it John? The one who defeated Isamu during our duel...]
“Oh! Ain’t this the little newbie… what was your name again… uh… Ka, Kahu? Ah right, Kazue. Hey! Miss Kazue! How’s the hunt?” <John>
Still, I was in a bad mood so I answered harshly at the adventurer since I thought he was being sarcastic.
“Don’t talk to me!” <Kazue>
“What's… oh…” <John>
He stopped his sentence mid-way and the expression on his face changed into a smug look.
“Right… I almost forgot you were initiated… HAHAHA, that’s too bad. So? How many kobolds did you defeat up till now? Maybe about 5?” <John>
This time the lean guy with a spear mockingly said to me, this time I am sure, he's being sarcastic.
“SHUT... UP!!!.” <Kazue>
I said with authority.
I only manage to kill one, the fact that he said numbers that 5 times as many as I defeated so far only makes my blood boil.
“Hahaha, from the looks of it, it’s less than 5… now, now... don’t feel too bad… Since you manage to catch up to us only means that you will start gaining your share starting now. After all, We are the first party to enter this path. You’ve seen it right? The pathways are divided into 5 different directions. In this path, we are the only ones present. There’s no one ahead of us.” <John>
After hearing this my eyes lit up.
[So these guys are the only ones who entered this path huh? Meaning if I went ahead I can... hue hue hue … MONEY!!!]
“Really?! OK, I’m on my way then, bye” <Kazue>
I wanted to continue forward but I stopped.
In front of me were another 2 pathways.
I turned around and called the attention of Andrew-san’s party.
“HEY!!!” <Kazue>
I said while waving my hands to call for their attention.
At the same time Isamu, Hayate, and Kaori started barking to help me call their attention.
They managed to notice me.
They looked at one another and signaled to each other to check what was up.
One of them ran toward me to ask what is going on.
“What is it?” <Archer Guy>
The one who came to us was the Archer.
“There are two paths here, where do you guys plan to go?” <Kazue>
“Uh… about that… we still haven’t decided. If you’re curious, you can wait for a bit so we can discuss this with our leader after we gather materials from the monster we defeated.” <Archer Guy>
After some deliberation.
I decided to wait for them to settle down.
.
.
.
A little bit later…
“So you’re saying that you want to go separately.” <Andrew>
“yeah.” <Kazue>
“Hmnn… To be honest I want you to come with us.” <Andrew>
“No can do.” <Kazue>
I immediately refuse to team up with Andrew-san’s party without even batting an eye.
[Yep, I know it’s dangerous but I DON’T CARE.]
It may be from the fact that I was already in a bad mood that I don’t want to see the senior adventurers stealing my prey.
Still...
Andrew-san continued to try to persuade me to join up with them and just divide the earnings later on.
I continued to refuse.
“Haa… can’t be helped. Just promise that you’ll be careful.” <Andrew>
“Yeah, yeah… I promise” <Kazue>
I can tell that Andrew-san was not completely sold with my idea as he was frowning at me.
But I only replied with a nonchalant attitude.
He looked very troubled.
“So, which one will you guys take? The one on the left or the one on the right?” <Kazue>
“We’ll take the one on the right.” <Andrew>
“Ok, so that means I would be taking the one on the left.” <Kazue>
-sigh- <Andrew>
Andrew-san and his party members only looked at each other with a problematic looks on their faces.
[Alrighty! it’s time for me to get some fortune!]
As I was about to move forward.
“Little miss, wait…” <Andrew>
I heard Andrew-san’s voice calling out my name so I turned around and look in his direction.
When I did, I saw him carrying several bottles containing green and yellow colored liquid in them.
“At least take these potions just in case.” <Andrew>
He reaches out to me with several bottles of potions in hand.
He was handing me 5 mid-tier potions and 5 low-tier stamina potions.
“Uh…. This is. No, I can’t take this.” <Kazue>
“Come on, just take it. It’s for our peace of mind.” <Andrew>
He looked back as he said his offer.
I followed his line of sight and saw that his party members were giving me signs to take them with smiles on their faces.
I sigh in resignation and accepted them.
“Okay… then… I’ll keep them as insurance, I’ll return it later if I end up not using it.” <Kazue>
He tried to pat my shoulder again.
This time I did not dodge and received them willingly.
“Miss Kazue!” <Kazue>
One of Andrew’s party members called out to me.
I searched for the origin of the lovely voice.
It was the healer of Andrew’s party.
“Uhm….” <Healer>
“Sorry, let me introduce myself again, my name is Mirva. I was the one who healed your familiars after your duel with Andrew, remember?” <Healer/Mirva>
“Ah, right… Mirva-san. What is it?” <Kazue>
For some reason, she was blushing and could not look me in the eye right away.
“???” <Kazue>
I wondered why she was looking away.
Without thinking I followed her line of sight and saw that she was looking at my familiars.
“Is there a problem with my familiars?” <Kazue>
“AH! NO! I HAVE NO PROBLEM WITH THEM!” <Mirva>
[Why is she startled?]
“UHMM, Ah… actually… can… pe…”<Mirva>
I could not catch what she said just now because her voice became very soft to the point that I could not hear them properly.
“Excuse me?” <Kazue>
I asked in confusion.
“Ah, SORRY, I knew you don’t like me to do it, I understand.” <Mirva>
[Huh? It seems that she misunderstood me refusing.]
I quickly stopped her assumption and tried to ask about what she was asking for.
“NO! No! It’s not like that, I could not hear what you wanted so can you repeat it 1 more time? This time clearly, so I can understand you properly.”
“Oh! Right… Uhmm… Like I said… I … uhmm… Can… I.” <Mirva>
“Can I?” <Kazue>
I softly repeated her word to urge her to say the rest of her sentence.
“CAN I PET YOUR WOLVES, JUST A LITTLE IS OK!” <Mirva>
I was surprised by the sudden outburst of Mirva-san.
The girl wearing a "sister" inspired armor is asking me if she can pet my Wolves.
“Oh, if that’s the case sure…” <Kazue>
I saw her eyes light up and a wide smile formed on her face.
She ran toward my wolves and hugged Kaori and Hayate.
They were trapped between her two arms trapping Kaori and Hayate in each arm.
“WOW, THEIR FUR IS SO SOFT” <Mirva>
She buried her face into their fur.
I could understand what she felt, even if I feel the urge to bury my face in their fur every once in a while.
“So Fluffy…” <Mirva>
She sniffed their fur.
“They smell good too! WOW.” <Mirva>
[Yeah, I did wash them thoroughly in the inn yesterday after all.]
Although Kaori and Hayate were being awkward with other people other than me hugging them they did not have any complaints or what so ever.
“Really? Now I’m curious.” <John>
“Miss Kazue… can we…” <Andrew>
Andrew and her party were looking at me.
I know what they wanted to ask so I just nodded to convey my consent.
They all stood next to my familiars and started petting them.
While Kaori and Hayate looked troubled, Isamu on the other hand looks so prideful.
Though I know him, he loves being petted, he's only acting like he is some kind of a majestic beast.
They seemed very impressed with how he looked, especially John, the spear user who managed to defeat him in battle.
He’s touching Isamu’s fur in awe.
Isamu seemed to like that the person who defeated him yesterday is impressed with his majestic look.
[I'll let him enjoy this for now...]
After some time, we decided to go on our separate paths.
“Kay, now I’m off!” <Kazue>
“See you later, Little newbie” <Andrew>
I nodded and turned around and walked on the pathway on the left.
*********
Similar to the entirety of the dungeon there were torches hung on the walls of the pathways.
It was like a wide mining cave that was about 5-6 meters wide and about 3 meters high throughout the pathway.
It was a straight pathway that was wide enough that I can swing my Katana while running around.
Soon enough I encountered a group of Kobolds
I counted how many were there and saw that there was a total of 6 Kobolds blocking the path.
They are on alert, meaning they are aware that the dungeon was being raided by adventurers at this very moment.
“At this rate we can’t catch them off guard, meaning we have to attack their heads on.”
I took out my sword.
[Drop that “catching them off guard” tactic…]
“Right now, … All I Need to do is…”
I slowly unsheathed my katana that was hanging on my waist.
To be honest I’ve been itching for the battle for quite a while now.
I used (Burst) and dashed at the Kobolds while my familiars are helping me from behind.
.
.
.
“Whew”
I wiped off the blood on the sword before returning it to its sheath.
It’s been several hours since I separated from Andrew-san and his party.
My bad mood had been salted and now I am feeling quite good.
As I go deeper into the dungeon my encounters with the kobolds are getting fewer and fewer.
But it was ok, I’ve managed to defeat quite a number of them by now.
I quit counting after killing my 50th prey, I estimate that I have already defeated about 80 of them.
As expected, I’m quite gassed by now.
I must have used a lot of mana from all my encounters today.
I also received some damage from fighting these kobolds all day but none of them are worth noting.
“I wonder why as I go deeper in the dungeon the less Kobold I encounter?” <Kazue>
I asked myself.
But no matter how much I think I was unable to find an answer with my limited knowledge.
“Oh well, I’ll look it up later.” <Kazue>
“Status” <Kazue>
I decided to check my status to check my health and mana.
“Oh, A new Title… also, I Level up! … about time… It has been hard to increase my level lately.” <Kazue>
“Let’s see… “Kobold Slayer” … hmmm… it has the same name as my “Undead Slayer” title. I guess they have the same effect?...” <Kazue>
I knew That the Undead Slayer increase my attack’s effectiveness against Undead.
If my Kobold Slayer works similarly to it, it will increase the effectiveness of my attack against Kobolds.
In the end, I am just guessing, assuming the effect of the Kobold Slayer is the same as my Undead Slayer title.
[I mean they both have the word “Slayer” in their name…]
“aa~ It’s bothersome that I have no skill or means to see the effect of my titles.” <Kazue>
I said my complaints toward the world.
In the RPG games I played before, players can just check the effect of their titles and skill with a flavor text provided by the game.
This world does not have this kind of system, the only way to know the effects of skills and titles was to appraise them with special skills. Or you can go to the guild library and look for the skill or title index to know the effects of your skills.
“… I wonder what the gods of this world are thinking when they created this world… If this was a game it’s a very vague sandbox type of game. Also, it’s so hard to gain level… I wonder what’s the EXP rate of this world?”
I felt so comical.
To think that an “Oracle” was trying to question the gods.
I was conflicted and felt a little bit guilty about that thought.
I sigh…
[Really, I wonder what the gods of this world are thinking right now… Are they watching us like omniscient beings? If so, what do they think about us right now? Are they bored? Are they Amused? Or maybe they don’t care?]
I shook my head after asking things that are so profound that the answers cannot be determined by a simple-minded person such as me.
I decided to camp for the day.
I knelt on the ground to pray, a thing that I do every day since I gained the “God of Judgement’s Favor” title.
Clasping my hand together and placed them above my chest while bowing my head.
I started doing a simple prayer no, a wish to the god that blessed me with the title “Apprentice Oracle of the God of Judgement”.
I may not be a devoted believer of this god, but since I know that this god exists, I prayed to him either way.
I was not expecting anything from this god either, but if my prayers can be granted then I will continue to do so.
I wished for the same thing over and over again.
“Please keep me and my friends safe while we stay in this world.” <Kazue>
Author Note:
Hi, ya there!
Since I was thinking of working on this Novel more seriously I will try my best to update it 2-3 times a week
I will be adding a poll in chapter 50, I hope I can get response from you guys later...
Uhmmm...
Also while writing this chapter I really wanted to change the "SHUT UP" words of Kazue --> URUSAI but I held myself since it will be bothersome to explain later, I know some of you already know what "Urusai" means but still not all of us would understand the word...
Anyway...
Thanks 4 reading