Chapter 20: Fun with a Bonefish

Chapter 20:
Fun with a Bonefish

 

IF I COULD GET MORE POWERFUL, I could protect the people I loved. Even so, I was still fundamentally a coward, and I needed to find a way of leveling up that didn’t put my life on the line. That was why I was focused on earning LP.

When I woke up the next morning, I knocked on Alice’s door and asked for a hug.

“Good morning.”

“G-good morning,” she said. “You’re being quite proactive this morning, brother.”

“I figure I should learn to be a little bolder.”

“Amazing! Then you’ll be everyone’s hero!”

I wasn’t sure about that, but I needed to build up LP, so I headed downstairs to give mother a hug, pet Tigerson, and ignore father. Just as I was thinking about going to the dungeon, my father piped up.

“By the way, a blonde girl came looking for you this morning.”

“What was her name?”

“I didn’t get the chance to ask,” he said. “She left as soon as I said you were still asleep. She said she’d be back, though!”

That sounded like Leila to me.

“Good morning.”

Speak of the devil! I hurriedly fixed my bedhead when I heard her call from the front door.

“So it was you,” I said.

And she had her little brother Nell with her.

“Sorry for dropping by unannounced. Nell told me where you lived and I wanted to pop by.”

“Oh, it’s no trouble,” I said. “It’s not a huge house, but please come in.”

“I can’t,” said Leila. “I have to get to work. But I wanted to thank you again.”

Was this about the Phantom? If so, then I should have been the one thanking her! But this was about something else.

“For what you did for my Nell, I mean,” she said. “Nothing bad has happened since you helped him. I wasn’t sure about the whole Misfortune skill thing, but whatever you did, it really worked!”

I guess without the Misfortune skill, Nell was back to normal. He smiled and lowered his head.

“Thank you very much.”

“I’m just glad to hear you’re doing well,” I said. “And don’t worry about Geth, he won’t be able to pull that move on anybody anymore.”

“Ugh, I just…” Nell said. “No one’s been this nice to us since we arrived…”

“Anyway,” said Leila, her voice catching in her throat. “I wanted to do something to thank you.”

Now that she mentioned it, I did have an idea.

“It doesn’t have to be on a strict schedule or anything,” I said. “But would you train me to fight?”

“Absolutely! I know we’re in rival guilds, but…I want us to be good friends.”

“Yes,” Nell said. “The two of you should definitely be friends.”

How can I say no to that?

Once they left, I headed into town to buy a spear. They were expensive, but it was necessary. Once I had what I needed, I set out for the hidden dungeon and set about hunting some golden slimes.

“I guess I got them all.”

“Raaar!”

“Whoa?!”

I leapt backwards as acid splashed down from the ceiling. It was surprised to discover one clinging up there. I guess it was smarter than the others. Different monsters appeared down here from time to time, like the boss-version I had encountered the other week. Either way, I took this one out with a Lightning Strike and stowed it away in my Pocket Dimension. Then it was on to the second floor to see Olivia.

<Eeeeeek! Noooo!>

My master seemed to be having another of her moments. I turned right around to leave.

<Nooo, stay, please! You aren’t allowed to leave meee!>

“Master, you seem to be a little more…excitable than usual today.”

<It’s because I never see you, Noir! It’s making me crazy!>

I thought she was probably a little crazy to begin with, but I kept that to myself.

“I need some advice,” I said instead. “The ninth floor is full of water.”

<So just give yourself gills.>

Could I do that? I looked into it, but she must have been messing with me…it would cost 30 million LP!

“That’s way too expensive!”

<Ah ha ha ha! Well, you wouldn’t really be human anymore then, would you?!>

“I’m serious,” I said. “I’m opening a shop. I need to get down there for materials.”

<Oh, so the shop idea’s working out, huh? All right. I’d recommend a combo of Diving and Zero Breathing.>

Diving was 500 LP and Zero Breathing was 1,000, but I had over 7,000 at the moment, so that wasn’t a problem. With those, I’d not only swim better but hold my breath underwater for longer, too.

<By the way, how long can you hold your breath normally?>

“About two minutes…maybe three.”

<With those skills, you should be able to manage at least twenty, but don’t push yourself too hard.>

That was way more helpful than I’d expected. I acquired them without hesitation.

<By the way, you should know that the great Olivia can stay under for two whole hours.>

“You really are a monster, huh?”

<What a rude thing to say to a beautiful woman. So are you going to try it out, or what?>

“That’s my master, you know me well. I’ll be off, then!”

<Good luck!>

I took the Dungeon Elevator down to the ninth floor and was suddenly surrounded by water. It was a bit of a worry, but I didn’t feel out of breath at all. It was actually quite comfortable. Still, like Olivia said, it would be best not to push it.

First, I made sure I knew where to find the stairs back up. I couldn’t use the Dungeon Elevator again for a whole hour, so I’d have to come back to them when I needed air in twenty minutes. Still, the water was beautiful, and there were a ton of fish.

“Burbble burbble burbble?!” Translation: What the heck is that?!

A strange fish with a red head, blue body, and yellow tail swam past. Before it could get away, I pulled out my new spear and stabbed it. It was surprisingly easy. I tried catching a few others but, unsurprisingly, they all swam off.

The water was so deep! The further I went, the harder it was to see. It made me a little nervous, so I kept close to the stairs. Thanks to my newly acquired Diving skill, it was easy to get around.

“Huh?”

One fish in the distance was nothing but bones! It was probably about a foot long and just swimming along like all the others. Then it turned toward me. I saw it had fangs in its mouth…its open mouth…

Was it trying to eat me? It didn’t look too strong, but I used Discerning Eye to be sure. A Level 12 Bonefish with no skills of note. I tried stabbing it with my harpoon, but it dodged. It was pretty nimble! I lost track of it for a moment until—chomp!

It sank its teeth into my backside. It hurt, but not too much. I grabbed it in my hands and snapped it clean in two. It was a pretty anticlimactic victory. The fish was dead, but it was pretty unusual, so I decided to hold on to it. I wasn’t feeling out of breath, but I headed back to the stairs for a moment.

“Haa haa haa…”

I took a few moments to catch my breath. My clothes were heavy and soaked. Since there didn’t seem to be any particularly powerful enemies, I decided to go a little deeper. Maybe I’d find some treasure, or another set of stairs. Then again, from experience, I had a feeling it wouldn’t be so easy!