Chapter 14: The First Dungeon Party

After managing to get Boryan down from the tree, the two took a brief rest before heading back into the cave.

Fortunately, the earlier commotion had significantly reduced the number of goblins, making the exploration easier.

‘I’m glad I learned a light spell,’ Sion thought.

The light spell, a 1st-circle magic commonly used in streetlamps, illuminated the cave’s interior as Sion led the way, spotting traps while Boryan charged at the remaining goblins.

“You dared to mess with me earlier? Take this!” she yelled.

“Keeek?”

“Krk!”

Still frustrated from her earlier humiliation, Boryan confronted a goblin.

Sion was curious to see how she would handle it.

“Baist Martial Arts, Form One… Gale Strike!”

Whoosh!

A surge of mana emanated from Boryan as her fists delivered a flurry of devastating blows.

The goblin didn’t even have a chance to retaliate before collapsing under the barrage.

Even Sion was taken aback by her skill.

One by one, Boryan took down the goblins with incredible precision.

She wiped her nose smugly and looked at Sion.

“Well? What do you think of my martial arts?”

“Uh… impressive. What style is that?”

“My dad runs a martial arts dojo. It’s named after our family—Baist Martial Arts!”

Bang!

She clenched her fists together and grinned.

As expected from a Byzantium Academy student—reliable and skilled.

‘Come to think of it, I’ve heard about how combatants store mana differently,’ Sion recalled.

While magicians stored mana in their hearts, fighters like swordsmen and martial artists stored it in their dantian, similar to the concept of internal energy in martial arts novels.

“Let’s keep going at this pace! The cave is narrow, so I can handle it all!” Boryan said confidently.

“Then I’ll leave it to you.”

“Great!”

The cave was too cramped for both of them to fight simultaneously.

Instead, Sion used his 1st-circle light spell, Light, to illuminate their path and ensure visibility, while Boryan handled the goblins with her rapid strikes.

They pressed on, cutting through the goblins with ease.

After several minutes, they reached the end of the cave—a large dome-shaped chamber.

“This must be the boss room,” Boryan remarked.

“Boss room?”

“Yeah, at my dad’s dojo, we sometimes explore dungeons. The end of a dungeon usually has a boss. Defeat it, and it’s over.”

Dungeons were places that spawned monsters.

Monsters were created by the core, or orb, at the center of the dungeon, which was typically protected by the boss.

Claiming the orb marked the dungeon’s conquest.

In this goblin dungeon, identifying the boss was easy, even for a novice like Sion.

It stood much taller than the other goblins.

“A hobgoblin!” Sion exclaimed.

A hobgoblin, the evolved form of a goblin, was well-known even to him.

Unlike the childlike stature of regular goblins, hobgoblins were as large and muscular as adult men—essentially like fighting a strong, burly human.

“Krik?”

“Krrr…”

“Kyaaak!”

To make matters worse, other goblins were present as well.

This dome-shaped chamber appeared to be the goblins’ living quarters, and all the remaining goblins were gathered here.

Boryan gritted her teeth.

“There are too many of them…”

Even a rough count revealed at least a dozen goblins.

On top of that, they’d have to deal with the boss simultaneously.

No matter how skilled Boryan was, she couldn’t fight off that many goblins at once.

It wouldn’t be easy—if she were alone.

“It’s fine,” Sion said, stepping forward.

Mana surged from his heart, flowing into his arms.

“I’ll handle the small fry.”

Sharp, jagged rocks began forming around Sion.

The 1st-circle earth spell, Earth, which typically conjured small stones, was transformed in Sion’s hands.

Large, conical boulders, sharper than drills, materialized in midair—dozens of them.

“Rock Cannon.”

With a simple incantation that belied the power of the spell, the rocks rained down on the goblins.

Whoosh—Boom!

The destruction was akin to a real cannonball strike.

The cave shook, and stalactites fell from the ceiling amidst the dust and debris.

“Boryan! Now’s your chance!” Sion shouted.

“…Got it!” she replied, snapping out of her awe at the display.

She charged toward the hobgoblin, who was limping from a damaged leg.

“Krkk!”

Even so, the boss was formidable.

Despite its injured leg, it swung a curved blade threateningly.

“That’s not scary at all when you can barely move!” Boryan taunted.

She easily dodged the sluggish attacks.

A crippled swordsman’s strikes lacked power, and Boryan, aware of this, exploited the hobgoblin’s weakness.

“Baist Martial Arts, Form Two… Spring Breeze!”

Boom!

The sound that followed her punch was more like an explosion than a physical strike.

The muscular hobgoblin was sent flying backward, crashing into the cave wall before collapsing in a heap like a broken puppet.

“Is… is it over?” Boryan asked, breathing heavily.

“Don’t say that. But yeah, I think we’ve won.”

“Woohoo!”

Boryan jumped up and down with excitement.

There were no goblins left standing. The dungeon had finally been cleared after much effort.

Sion let out a deep sigh of relief.

‘That was exhausting… but I still have some mana left.’

He glanced at his hands, gauging his remaining mana.

Based on the sensation in his heart, he had used about 70% of his mana during the battle.

To have 30% left after his first real fight was a small victory in itself.

Just as he began to feel a sense of accomplishment, Boryan called out.

“Sion!!”

“Wha—Boryan?!”

Thud!

Boryan tackled Sion, knocking him to the ground.

She hovered over him, her eyes sparkling.

“That was amazing! Honestly, I thought Magic Department students were all scrawny weaklings with no real experience, but you’re different!”

“Okay, okay, I get it. Can you get off me… you’re heavy…”

“Heavy?! Did you just call me heavy? Say that again!”

“N-no! You’re light! Super light!”

Sion quickly surrendered as Boryan pressed her elbow into his chest.

Satisfied, she helped him up, though her expression remained a bit pouty.

“I’ll forgive you for calling a lady heavy—just this once. Considering how well you did today.”

“Thanks… I guess.”

“Let’s head back. Oh, wait! Before we leave, let’s loot the goblins. We need to collect the mana stones and that nice sword the hobgoblin had—it’ll sell for a good price!”

“Got it.”

Following Boryan’s lead, Sion helped gather the spoils.

Aside from the mana stones, there wasn’t much worth taking, but the curved blade the hobgoblin carried turned out to be a high-quality weapon, according to Boryan.

After collecting the orb from the center of the dungeon, the two finally exited.

“It’s gotten pretty dark,” Sion remarked.

“Yeah, the sun sets faster in the forest. Let’s hurry back.”

“Agreed.”

With their loot in hand, Sion and Boryan left the forest.

By the time they returned the orb to the adventurer’s guild, it was completely night.

“Good work today, Boryan,” Sion said.

“Same to you. Thanks for helping me… even though I made a bit of a fool of myself.”

“For the record, I didn’t see anything.”

“That makes it sound even more suspicious! Ugh, whatever!”

After splitting the reward money evenly, Sion was about to head back to his dorm when he noticed Boryan fidgeting, as if she wanted to say something.

She finally pulled out her student ID and held it out with both hands, bowing slightly.

“Th-thanks for teaming up with me today! Um… if it’s okay, could I maybe… get your contact info?”

Sion smiled and handed back her ID after exchanging details.

Boryan grinned. “Deal! Let’s team up again, okay?”

“Of course.”