The Strongest Spellblade

After half a day the surges of Mana stopped. We checked the passage shortly after that, but there were no monsters surging out of it. I looked at the passage to the 2nd layer and then at Healer Melon.

“Maybe we should turn back?” I asked.

“It is up to you. There are risks in either direction. But getting a class is important for your health. That was an incredibly large dungeon break, but unless you are doing something particularly stupid, the choice is yours,” he said.

I appreciated Healer Melon letting me make the decision and was annoyed at the same time. I was completely unsure about what decision to make, but he was probably in the same position as well. Ultimately, I was the leader of this little group.

While Healer Melon was older than me and had a higher level, he was a support caster. It would be my life at the most risk as we descended. That was why it was customary for someone fighting on the front lines to make decisions for the entire adventurer team.

“We continue. Defeating a high level monster was difficult but we managed to win and defeat a lot of minions at the same time. The main risk is a surprise attack from an Abnormal, especially with things muddled after that dungeon break. We need to pay close attention to our surroundings, but we keep going,” I replied. Healer Melon nodded.

“Hissss!” Ozy agreed with me as well and let out a hiss from my shoulder. We decided down the passage to the 2nd layer climbing on the rocks jutting out. There were no monsters at the bottom of the passage. While it seemed like a rule for the dungeon, one had to be incredibly careful.

Focusing on my Depth Sense, I could tell which way the next passage was on this layer. The direction felt clearer. Like a stream after a storm, the flow of Mana was more obvious with the torrent that had just passed through.

It only took a couple of chambers to find the next passage. The monsters were easily dealt with. It would take too long to collect the cores, and they were red. While I had done it before, I didn’t want to waste more time down here than I needed to. That dungeon break had put me on edge. Also, Ozy enjoyed eating them.

While he would gain experience from the Mana within them, it would be a long time before he became too big to travel easily with me. I would need to find a solution once he got bigger. I would have to ask the experts at the College that had shared the ideas about boosting him with Alchemical skills. I also had to get him one when we got back.

Training him to heal with animals would be doable while I was at the College. No one trained pet monsters in healing. The expense was just not worth it with how rare Alchemical skills extracted from monsters were. It would just be cheaper and more politically correct to hire a healer from the Five Star Institute of Healing.

We reached the 4th layer before I called it a day. I made sure we stopped off the route between the passages between the layers in case another dungeon break occurred while we were resting.

I broke out a portable cook set from my spatial pouch along with packed meat, vegetables, spices, and bread. There were two small folding chairs and a small folding table as well. “When did you get all of this?” Healer Melon asked.

“Some enterprising merchants in Genoa put together a catalogue, which they printed out for the students and staff of the College. I ordered it all,” I replied.

“Oh, the catalogue. I am getting old, missing something that obvious,” he let out a sigh.

“You can’t be that old,” I said, and he shook his bald head with a smile.

“I am over 300 years old. Without your mother, I would have had to retire soon.” I gave him a look of shock before turning back to cooking. Ozy looked up at the cook set with disdain and went back to napping on my shoulders.

“I guess, I never asked,” I replied.

“Vitality is quite powerful and people get more desperate as they get closer to the end. At least many do. That is why a trip when you are old is often called a final descent, since you will try to gain as many levels or die trying, before exiting the dungeon,” Healer Melon said.

“You must have seen a lot?” I asked.

“Not as much as you would think. I spent quite a bit of time learning. Unlike the College which rushes people, The Five Star Institute of Healing is about consistent progress and not killing people. I then adventured for a while after I graduated as a healer. After that it was challenging to pick up jobs,” he said.

This tale has been pilfered from NovelFire. If found on Amazon, kindly file a report.

“Really, aren’t healers in demand everywhere?” I asked.

“Only for going into the dungeon. The number of jobs in cities is limited. There are a lot of us. The Five Star Institute of Healing trains around 1,000 healers every year. If each one works for 200 years, that is 200,000 healers working at any time.”

“Oh, that is a lot,” I replied as I began carefully seasoning the meat. I would cut of the vegetables next and make stir fry. Judy and I had been introduced to a nice sauce from Genoa and I was going to introduce it to Healer Melon.

“While we aren’t as competitive, we still are competitive. Being power leveled to level 80 by your mother gives me a chance to retire with style after watching over you until you graduate,” he said.

“I can’t convince you to stick around?” I asked.

“While your cooking smells delicious, ultimately, I want to relax and the dungeon is anything but relaxing. I will have a spot teaching adventuring and healing at the Institute after this. Which is where most healers go once, they have enough accomplishments to their name,” he explained.

“You were at the Institute when my mother recruited you?” I asked.

“Yes. Jobs for healers come to the Institute. I was hoping to pick up something and your mother showed up at the perfect time. Even if watching you can be exhausting sometimes, it isn’t that bad,” he teased.

I kept cooking for another minute before I spoke up again. “Do you think I can do it?” I asked.

“Do what?” he asked.

“Become a supreme legend and surpass my mother?” I asked.

“It will be difficult, insanely difficult. Supreme Warlady Elena is the highest benchmark you could set for yourself. But I don’t think it is impossible. Unless you become fat from eating too many sweets,” he said.

“I need some joy in my life. Unless you want me to take up driving?” I teased back.

“No. I absolutely forbid you from that nonsense. Those couple of months in Undercraft were the worst,” he said.

“I wonder if the city is doing okay and Anerac,” I said.

“Hopefully he got off Pic. But beyond that he is probably okay along with his mother. Your father did a good job of evacuating the city. The casualties were only a couple hundred out of a city of thousands. Which is quite decent for a disaster on that scale.”

“And the Dark Cabal?”

“Best to not worry about them until you are strong enough. Unless they mess with certain things or target the Institute it is best to leave them alone. Like a powerful sleeping monster. A fight will be hard and unpleasant. Thinking about going after them?” he asked.

“Yes. I was hoping I would find powerful companions at the College, but I just got Ozy,” I replied who wiggled a bit and bumped my neck with his snoot. “Dinner is done.” I began plating both our meals.

“Ah, excellent, thank you. You are improving with your Cooking skill,” he said.

“It is something fun I can work on at the College that is hands on,” I replied.

“As for finding a team, you are unlikely to find anyone among your classmates in the first couple of years. When you get closer to graduation and your class size is reduced there are more social events as people network with each other,” Healer Melon said.

“Doubt I will get anyone else who would want to adventurer with me in the top 10,” I replied.

“You would be surprised. While there is a lot of pressure from Windshell Gossimer, she might be a good teammate if you can work out your differences and come to some sort of an agreement,” he said.

“Really, the elf who would want to kill me after graduation? Isn’t that insanely risky?” I asked.

“There is risk, but she is just one example. I only mentioned her as an example of a caster archetype you could team up with. There are others like her who aren’t as competitive or dangerous who could make good teammates. A caster like her requires a front liner that is capable. The people graduating from the College are normally determined to get levels after graduating, putting their skills to use and honing them further in the dungeon,” he explained.

“If there is someone who can keep up.”

“Don’t be too picky. Most adventuring teams have a set time they are together around five to ten years at most before they break apart. You have seen the low and the high end of adventuring teams. But the mid-levels are full of teams with similarly minded individuals,” Healer Melon said.

“I will have to look into that once I graduate,” I said. Being an adult was hard. Before my mother would handle all the long term decisions, now everything was left up to me. I had to figure everything out. It was exhausting in a way that was hard to describe. There were so many things I had to worry about and take into consideration.

“This is good, what is it?” Healer Melon asked about the dinner I just made.

“Beef vegetable stir fry with Genoa sauce,” I replied.

“While those Genoa people might not know what they are doing politically, but they definitely know how to make some great sauce,” he replied.

“I know. They are definitely skilled in sauce making and trading. The other stuff, well it is a mess.”

“The College will probably leave at the start of your second year. I heard that the Dean is in talks with various nations. The Five Star Institute is being considered as a possible stopping point,” he said.

“Hmmm, not that it would change much. Despite the College flying, it is still just an institute of learning. Only if you go to the edge, will you realize that you are up in the sky,” I replied.

“Better than shaking about or running into storms. I can’t handle that kind of thing. Thankfully it has been incredibly stable,” he said.

“If it did fall, it would be a massive disaster,” I replied.

“Which is why so many nations are hesitant about allowing the College. Also, its movement will disrupt trade networks, politics, and the local power structure. Some people are advocating it makes a loop around the continent, but all of that takes time and isn’t our concern,” Healer Melon said.

“It would be nice to know where it will end up when I graduate. So, I can plan things from that point onwards. But that is far in the future like forming a team. I have other priorities,” I said while thinking of Ozy. We finished up dinner and not for the first or last time I really wanted magic to be able to clean everything.