Chapter 61: A Hard Decision

POV Eliza

After saying goodbye to Dilara, I was alone again. I can't and don't want to get used to the feeling of separation. I hadn't had her in my care for long, but I had already developed a certain connection with her. I was reminded of Mama and reminisced a bit. The next day, after I went to visit Lirella, I found a letter and a small box in my room. I wondered where they came from since I always locked up. I was cautious and suspicious when I opened the letter. There were only a few words in the letter.

“Dear Eliza,

thank you again for our rescue and the rescue of Dilara. As promised, here is your reward. If you ever come to the capital and need help, go to the innkeeper of the Wild Boar and show him the letter and the contents of the box. He knows a lot of people in the city and can refer you.

Drak

PS: Do not leave the item lying around unattended. Otherwise the authorities could come up with unpleasant ideas.”

I was amazed at the news. The content sounded as if I had received a letter of introduction to the underworld. But who knows what that was for and I didn't want to draw the attention of the authorities anyway. The item in the box was a signet ring with an unknown emblem.

Since it hadn't started snowing yet, I was still able to get to the dungeon without any problems. After my experience with the heroes, the monsters up to floor 15 could be defeated without any major problems, even solo. On this occasion I remembered Lirella and her stories from the higher floors. The monsters of the first ten floors were repeated, but each time they became significantly stronger. The slimes became elemental slimes and attacked with spells. At floors 21, these attacks became significantly stronger again and the slimes gained further resistance. The beetles instead just seemed to get bigger and stronger, whereas I already knew the spiders from floor 13. On floor 23 the spiders began to appear in multiple species at once, one species shooting their venom across distances. Was I taking the risk of further resistance? Anyone who caught that thought would think I was crazy. More than before.

But I wanted to test the slimes. So I ran to the dungeon and straight to floor 11. Thanks to the portal, I got there without any major problems. I found the first slime quickly. Identify Monster identified him as Fire Slime. It was just as slow as the other slimes, but had more HP. It approached to a distance of 10m. Then a kind of arm came out of his body and pointed in my direction. A fire bolt out of it. I deliberately allowed myself to be hit and then backed away out of reach. The hit was painful, about as strong as a fire bolt of basic magic. With my regeneration, it took me less than a minute to recover. That was less than I thought. Next, I tested how quickly the slime could repeat its attack. The attack speed was so slow that it only fired a fire bolt about once per minute. Since I regenerated faster, I could sit down and let myself be shot at, but that would be ineffective. And absolute madness, especially since there was no elemental resistance that I could build up. The only option I knew for elemental resistance was a high level. And artifacts.

I moved past the slime and looked for another one. I ignored the first one and let the second one shoot at me. Every hit made me cringe, but I did it for the bigger picture. I told myself that, otherwise I would actually become crazy. This time it was a water slime and the damage was the same as the fire slime. The attack speed was also the same. While I was working on the slime, an idea came to me as to what I could improve. I could sense the slimes with sense mana and if I concentrated, I could figure out the moment the slime made its attack. I tested whether I could dodge the attack if I closed my eyes and relied only on sense mana. It took me quite a while and some pain to get the timing right, but then I managed to dodge first every third attack and later on even every second attack. I even discovered by chance on the way back to town that the slimes' attacks could damage the other slimes. I thought for a moment and then tried to consciously stand between two slimes and then avoid them.

So I spent the rest of the day letting the slimes fight each other. When the first one was defeated, I defeated the second one with a spell and went back to the inn. Enough pain for today. In order not to suffer the pain every day and also for the sake of variety, I only spent a few hours with the slimes every other day. The other time I tested my skills against the other monsters that I had barely been able to do anything against, the treants. They were sensitive to fire and slow, but I will never learn fire magic. I could do it, but I had reduced effectiveness with the second Elemental Magic Water and with each subsequent one the effectiveness continued to decrease. It just wasn't worth it. But I only stayed on this level for a short time because I hardly gained any new knowledge from the fights. My spear did enough damage to defeat a treant, along with some air bolts. But it took too long to be effective, so I quickly abandoned it.

From the slimes on floor 11 you could collect the monster cores, which could be turned into money. But the slimes ones were so small that it was hardly worth it. The beetles were hunted by the other adventurers, so all I had left were the spiders. But I rarely fought the spiders, just enough to last through the winter in Tyros. My motivation now wasn't enough for more. Instead, I tested my skills by fighting the first two bosses solo. Both fights weren't much of a challenge at my current level. After that I couldn't get to floor 1 to 10, but I didn't see that as a loss.

I visited Lirella and Weyn every fourth day, at least as long as it wasn't snowing. The visits with both of them were a welcome change for my training and I had already agreed that I could come to them more often on snow days. The two also seemed to enjoy my company. Several weeks passed before the first big snowfall occurred. There were only three weeks until my birthday. I told Lirella about it and she promised me a surprise. I was excited to see what it was and couldn't wait for the day. It promised to be like Mama's with our little family.

On the day of my birthday it stopped snowing. So I was able to run some necessary errands because I wasn't supposed to get to Lirella's until the afternoon. I took the opportunity to have my equipment repaired. I would have liked to improve my equipment, but I didn't have enough money. I had to live on my savings over the winter. When I got to Lirella in the afternoon it was already getting dark. The full moon was visible in the sky above and, as always, it calmed me. That and the prospect of a cozy evening with friends put me in a good mood. When I knocked on the door, Weyn opened it for me.

"Hello. Come in.” <Weyn>

I thanked him and entered the house. It was amazing how much Weyn had developed from a shy boy to a normal boy. At least what I would describe as a normal boy. There was a fire burning in the fireplace in the living room and there was a delicious smell coming from the kitchen. Weyn led me to the table and I sat down. He poured me some juice to drink and sat down with it. We waited together for his mother. A short time later she came out of the kitchen with a small cake. There was a lit candle on the cake.

“Happy birthday, Eliza. Good luck on your journey and always good health.” <Lirella>

“Thank you.” <Eliza>

I was really touched and couldn't help but shed a little tear. The other two smiled at me and I felt really safe and wanted. Weyn proudly presented me with a homemade amulet, which I had to put on immediately. I thanked him with a hug, and he fell silent and didn't say anything for a while. Lirella presented me with a new dagger sheath. She was a loving but also very practical woman. We spent a very happy evening together and I said goodbye late. Weyn had stayed up as late as he could before he fell asleep with his eyes open and Lirella put him to bed. Lirella brought me to the door and we arranged to meet the next day, again as teacher and student.

That's how I spent the next three months. One day I went to the dungeon and one day I spent with Lirella. On days when Lirella didn't have time because she had other students, I also went to the dungeon. During this time, I placed particular emphasis on increasing my poison resistance on the spiders on floor 13. In the end my poison resistance was tier 5 in advanced before I no longer felt any effect from the poison. After that I tried to make as much money as I could, which unfortunately wasn't much. I could only carry small amounts of monster parts and Sana would lectured me again. As always.

Then the day came when I had to decide whether to wait for Lynn and the others of the young wolfes or accept the heroes' invitation. Both options had their advantages and disadvantages, but upon closer consideration I had to choose the heroes. I felt sorry for the others. To do this, I looked for a quest in the guild that took me to the capital. It was an escort quest. The wagon train I was to accompany left in two days, enough time to say goodbye to Lirella and Weyn. The day I left Tyros was rainy. It suited my current state of mind, because as much as my reason told me that I had made the right decision, it was difficult for me to say goodbye. I had a good time here and I didn't know if and when I would return.