The First Field Examination, Part 2
1937 Words
The flans try to pounce us, hardening their gelatinous bodies and using themselves as battering rams.
Of course, we dodge their predictable pouncing attacks.
As the flans' attacks didn't stick, they instead resort to casting magic.
The Flan de Fuego attempts to cast Apairo, the standard fire spell.
The Flan de Hielo attempts to cast Geloice, the standard ice spell.
Of course, those spells are dangerous if the casting is uninterrupted, so we three do the natural thing: Bashing their heads in.
The spells no longer stick, and the flans are reduced to nothing but useless jelly.
Two monsters down. We have to proceed forward.
In the midst of the seemingly clashing scenery of fire and ice, we spot something odd.
It is a wall whose pattern is unlike the other ones we've seen so far in this dungeon.
I non-verbally command Laika and Yulissa to come over to that odd-looking wall.
I state, “I knew there's something odd with this wall. I see something behind that small hole.”
My sister replies, “You're right, brother. This ice wall indeed doesn't hold up well. Here.”
She gives the wall a good tapping, and our hypothesis is indeed proven right.
“I hope this scroll is enough to melt this wall down...”
She brings out an Apairo scroll and tosses it towards the wall. We all stand back beforehand.
The spell activates, its fire-based powers predictably melting the ice wall enough to make an opening that is suitable to walk into.
Behind the now-melted wall stands a treasure chest.
Laika comments, “I guess the military also knows of Gygax's First Principle of Dungeon Design, which states that if a wall shows some signs of damage such as fissures, there's a high chance of a valuable item hiding behind it.”
I then follow up, “There's also Gygax's Second Principle of Dungeon Design. There's always goodies behind the waterfall. Sucks there are no waterfalls here, unfortunately.”
We then take the initiative to take the contents of the already-unlocked treasure chest.
“Sweet! It's a bundle containing a bottle of hot sauce, a single horseradish, and a bottle of cocktail sauce.“
No doubt, they are all cooking ingredients.
Alright, moving on.
We trudge further into the depths of this honestly one-path dungeon.
Getting lost is never in our minds...
...but hunger is, as our stomachs give off that grumbling sound.
We stay put as Laika brings out her Energy Biscuits, and we all eat them in one go.
Yummy. Now back to dungeon exploration.
A few steps further, and we spot a potted plant in the middle of the dungeon floor.
It's an orchid, huh.
I take the initiative and grab it...
...and it abruptly spawns some huge vines that are clearly aiming for Laika and Yulissa!
Darn it! How could I fall for this “suspicious orchid” that is a monster in disguise?
And of course, I ain't having any of that “I've seen enough off-brand stuff to know where this is going” crap.
With my saber unsheathed, I quickly slice and dice the vines just before they touch the two girls.
Phew. Monster down.
I then apologize to them by taking a bow.
Laika reacts, “It's nothing. Even experienced adventurers can be deceived by cheap tricks like this.”
Yulissa follows, “Brother, I... I don't want to lose 'it' just yet! Thank you for saving 'it'!”
After their acceptance of my apology, we press forward.
We eventually arrive at the end of the dungeon, the atrium.
Before our eyes lies a temple-like structure, with glowing red and blue lines outlining its pillars and tiles.
We could say “It's quiet... too quiet”; but instead, we all know what to expect in this part of the dungeon.
And we're right.
A booming voice resonates in this atrium.
“Who dares to interrupt my sleep?”
A humanoid beast roughly twice our average height manifests himself amidst bellows of fire and ice.
His horns are of a deep crimson, while his tusks are of a glistening white.
His muscled body is filled with with belts packed with runes that amplify his elemental powers, and his meaty fists exhibit his mastery over the two opposing elements, giving off a searing and chilling aura at the same time.
The beast sees us three and reacts...
“Oh, if it's another bunch of greenhorn cadets. Anyway, my name is Effrieleon, the beast at the end of this artificial dungeon.”
Strangely enough, his voice that sounds like he's too tired to do anything contrasts sharply with his intimidating appearance.
I ask the beast, “Man, why is your voice so... un-beastly?”
“You know what, for the past fifty years that I've been serving as the proverbial punching bag for aspiring soldiers, I always think of getting out of this cavern in the first place, simply because I want to go beyond what the bigwigs of the military school tell me every time. But then, those aspiring soldiers always go above and beyond when it comes to dedication to the people and the kingdom, and thus I tell myself that I'm proud of my contributions to their eventual growth, no matter how small they may be. Alright then, no more introspective talk. Ahem... uh... GRAAAAAAAHHHH!!!”
“Finally, a boss fight!”
I declaim this as we three draw our sabers for this battle.
We all know his meaty fists will hurt real bad when connected to any part of our bodies, and we have no shields to speak of; so all we do is to dodge his opening salvo of punches in the air and in the ground.
Yulissa then senses an invisible aura surrounding the fire-and-ice beast.
“Brother, looks like he's casting something!”
And I'm proven right, as we can all hear his incantation.
“Destruction of nature, gather in flames! Apairo!”
We all do some evasive rolls to avoid being flame-broiled cadets in no time.
As the fire spell didn't stick, Effrieleon resorts to another spell, and I can already sense its different aura.
“These subzero blades will chill your blood! Geloice!”
Ice blades fly from his hands like ammunition from a hand cannon.
Again, we do the same evasive rolls to prevent being frozen shish-kabob'd cadets in no time.
Aghast that we easily dodged his spells, the beast bangs his chest like a certain jungle man before declaring the following...
“I'm gonna wreck you!”
In the next half-second, he quickly jumps into the air.
Whatever this is, his upcoming attack is a “death from above” one, so we all must stay on our toes.
Laika senses a quick gust of wind approaching her from above, so she calculates that his “I'm gonna wreck you!” move is, specifically, a diving punch attack.
And thus, she does the unthinkable.
She blocks the beast's two fists that should've connected with her head... with her own saber, no less!
My sister and I alert her.
“Come on!”
“If your saber's broken, it'll take 5,000 guintos and five days to have it fixed!”
Fortuitously, her saber doesn't show any signs of damage after blocking such an attack.
Blessed are the blacksmiths who have to toil everyday to make these high-quality blades we can be proud of!
As the beast still struggles, she counters with a powerful swing, making the beast flinch and jump backward.
I then sense some bruises on her arms, which are a likely result of her blocking attempt.
I snag a bottle of Healing Potion from my belt and promptly hand it over to her.
While Laika drinks the Potion, Yulissa and I proceed with our all-out offensive.
We both know from combat classes that spells can be interrupted by attacking the spell-caster themselves (unless they equip something that negates that interruption), so we both go whole hog on the assault.
However, the beast isn't showing any signs of surrender.
I can sense his mouth emanating a chilling breath.
Wait a sec!
If I recall what I've read in a somewhat old encyclopedia of monsters, there's an ice beast whose most dangerous attack is an ice breath that puts targets to sleep.
Most likely, Effrieleon also has this attack, so we have to interrupt him real quick!
Fortunately, our whole-hog assault stops his breath attack faster than he can say “Argh!”
And once Laika's done with drinking that Potion, we all non-verbally agree to let her take the lead.
Effrieleon returns to his initial attack paradigm of meaty punches, and Yulissa and I have to goad him into punching the swordmaiden with the flowing moves.
She lowers her stance so that her eyes meet the beast's torso, does a drop step, springs forward while the beast attempts to punch again, and finally lets out a quick but furious horizontal s***h that hurts the beast real hard.
Wait, have I seen this before?
If I remember correctly, yes.
Laika adapted what is called the “Dempsey roll”, which is normally used in unarmed martial arts, to her attack patterns – and just performed that move with her usual elegant flair.
“OK, my job's done. You win.”
With his admittance of defeat, we three have formally cleared the dungeon.
We perform our victory poses, which we practiced last night.
I raise my saber high before slowly lowering it until my weapon hand meets my face, and then return it to my sheath.
Laika simply sheathes her saber and then flips her long, gorgeous hair.
Yulissa playfully twirls her saber, with her fingers spinning around the guard, before finally sheathing it.
We then hear a voice coming from the dungeon's own sparkgrid-powered public address system, which belongs to none other than our commanding officer.
“Congratulations, Cadets Keenan Floribunda, Yulissa Floribunda, and Laika Santiaguel! You have completed this dungeon! Moreover... you have achieved the super-secret condition of clearing the dungeon seven or fewer seconds before the timer expires!”
Whoa! We all did it! Unknowingly, that is.
“You will all be teleported to the entrance by this friendly beast you've just defeated, and you will know what awaits you back at the campus. Once again, congratulations.”
“Great going, cadets,” the beast states. “Now I can have some much-needed sleep.”
After Effrieleon promptly teleports us back to the entrance and return to the military school's premises via the same carriage...
We anticipate with bated breath the reward for completing the secret achievement.
The commanding officer thus declares...
“Cadets Keenan Floribunda, Yulissa Floribunda, and Laika Santiaguel... you have not just completed the first field examination with flying colors, but also clinched the hidden achievement. That achievement is an unspoken rule we at the military school uphold for years, and we only divulge this to those who did it after the fact. So then... your reward for that achievement is an instant promotion to the rank of Cadet First Class, which should increase the chances of achieving higher ranks once you've graduated from this school and become full-fledged soldiers! Congratulations! You all deserve this reward!”
We three proudly salute Cpl. Ben-Kulera after his speech.
As for the other cadets... they have also passed the examination, but they didn't get the secret achievement.
To be honest, having this upgraded rank is nothing for us three to boast of.
It was the product of our tried-and-tested teamwork...
...that will make our dream work.
- Writer
