Chapter 56: A New Insight

POV Eliza

I studied with the wizard instructor and learned some new spells. This allowed me to expand my repertoire, even if a part of it wasn't usable in combat because the spells took too long to cast. But when I had time to prepare, they were very helpful. These included, among other things, to make my voice heard in farer distance or to clean clothes and get rid of smells. But overall I felt well prepared for the solo raid on the first boss.

I went into the dungeon the next day and, as I often do, was looked at strangely because I was alone. Fighting solo in the dungeon was rare and even rarer as a girl. In case theyy were wondering, I had a bigger plan and I followed it. As always, I simply bypassed all the other adventurers and groups of monsters and stood in front of the first boss room without any major problems. I cast all the buff spells I had mastered so far. These were alongside my new haste spell to increase my speed and aiming to increase the chance of hitting. After finishing the last spell, I sensed other adventurers approaching and quickly entered the boss room.

This time I chose a different tactic than usual because I was alone instead of in a group. I closed the door behind me and immediately started airbolt as soon as the familiar flicker appeared, without moving further into the room. The airbolt flew into the middle of the monsters and hit one of the monsters. I wish I already had advanced air magic to master stronger attack spells, so I had to go with the smallest one. I prepared the second airbolt as soon as the first left my hands. Since the monsters in the first boss room were all slow, the second spell also hit before the first monster got to me. Again the boss was the spider. I was interested to know if the boss monster also had a stronger poison. According to Identify Monster, the boss still only had a light poison attack, so it couldn't poison me. I made quick work of the spider.

The other monsters were too weak to pose a serious threat to me. With advanced Evade neither the beetles nor the goblins could hit me. The vines were also harmless. In the end all that was left were the slimes. This took me the longest to do because I could only use the airbolt. Ultimately, they were otherwise harmless. The stele and the chest appeared again. I examined the chest and disarmed the trap. It was no longer a challenge for me. There were only uninteresting things in the chest, but I was able to turn them into money. Therefore it was not a loss.

Afterwards I touched the stele purely on impulse, even though I knew that it could teach me nothing more. After all, I had already used this stele with the group of heroes. I was even more amazed that I was able to improve something. They were the same ones that I had available for the heroes back then. I would have liked to improve Regeneration or Self Transformation, but I didn't have the two skills to choose from. I asked myself why. Since I was able to improve the other skills using an instructor and I didn't need any of them urgently, I saved the second development point and missed the chance to improve. Afterwards I left the boss room and fought a bit with various monsters before returning to Tyros in the evening.

In the evening in my room I analyzed the new situation. One point I didn't understand was the stele and why I was allowed to choose a skill again even though I couldn't do that in the hero group. I'll ask Lirella as soon as I see her again, maybe she knew something about it. Sana should know that too, but I was unsure whether I should ask her. All I got was another lecture about how carelessly and carelessly I had acted. Perhaps I could paraphrase it without it being noticeable. No, too unsure, I would rather ask Lirella. Before that, I'll test again to see whether this also worked after the next boss.

The next day I went into the dungeon again and straight back to the first boss room. I made the same preparations again and entered the room solo again. The monsters weren't a problem and were all dealt with quickly. This time I touched the stele first, but it didn't respond. I concluded that it must be because I was traveling solo and already activated the corresponding stele. Otherwise everything was comparable. At least there was something useful in the chest. My equipment slowly grew. Then I went to the 6th floor to the butterflies and the caterpillars. I found a few monsters and killed the two caterpillars so that the remaining butterfly could enchant me in peace. It must have been because the butterfly had just successfully charmed me with confusion that I hadn't felt the auras, but suddenly I heard a loud call in my direction.

“What was that about? What are you doing here alone? Be glad we came to your aid.” <Man1>

“But really, just sitting here. Where is the rest of your group?” <Man2>

I shook my head. One of the two women in the group came closer and examined me.

“She has no injury. She must have been very lucky that we arrived in time and were able to intervene.” <Woman1>

“I can do air magic and activated speed earlier. I defeated the caterpillars, but the butterfly enchanted me. Nothing bad.” <Eliza>

“Then we were worried for nothing? Just say that beforehand!” <Man1>

"I'm sorry. I underestimated the magic of butterflies. I’m still grateful to you for that.” <Eliza>

I bowed to them and walked back towards the portal upstairs. The group behind me shook their heads in disbelief and muttered under their breath. Once I was out of sight, I checked my status. I actually didn't suffer any damage. Instead I gained Mind Resistance. My plan to slowly improve my resistances seemed to be working and I will continue to do it. But next time I'll go to a far corner and hope not to be disturbed while I'm busy with the butterflies until I got bored.