The Flying Emporium

Xander and his four group members, representing the ‘Lion’s Head’, guild stood in front of a giant iron golem.

Until reaching this point, everything went very easy and without hiccups. And that was still an understatement.

Spread across the wide-open area that gave the dungeon its name were several camps of kobolds that looked like a combination of a lizardman and an imp. They were almost as tall as an average human.

In each of those camps resided a kobold shaman that needed to be killed if one wanted to interrupt the spell that was cast to banish the end boss of the dungeon.

Each of the shamans was heavily protected, but as the group outleveled the monsters they bore no danger to them. Since the group wasn’t here for experience or gear, it didn’t matter. The only reason they chose this dungeon was the skill book that could be dropped by the shamans, as it would allow Lynn to learn a new spell. That spell would allow her to cast a raid-wide buff to increase the physical penetration values of all people affected. Depending on several factors like group size, group composition, length of the fight, and enemy type, the buff alone could easily increase the overall damage of the group by 10 to 20 percent.

Using this opportunity to test Xander was just an afterthought. Usually, they would choose a harder dungeon for such an occasion. Therefore most people would feel lucky right now.

Xander didn’t.

He felt the enemies that came before the boss were too weak to showcase his skill, whereas the boss’s monster type, with its high physical defense, was his worst matchup.

The former was one of the reasons why this group of five was able to slaughter their way through the dungeon in this fashion even though they weren’t a well-practiced team.

Once someone joined a guild, they would usually tend to group up with other people from that guild as much as possible. So them not being coordinated with Xander, an outsider, was only natural.

But even if everyone was in the same guild, that didn’t necessarily mean that they were familiar with each other's habits and combat style and the like. Especially if the guild was on the larger side, it would obviously come to the formation of internal groups.

Since the dungeon run this time was concerning the recruitment of a new member, a higher-ranking guild officer had to be present to make the decision if Xander was deemed a suitable fit.

This time the officer in question was Andreas, a [Warrior] that was heavily skilled and geared towards a strictly defensive role. Even an inexperienced eye could easily discern that he was an even higher level than the others, just based on the quality and the looks of the gear he wore.

He was also the person that had recruited Lynn, and while they didn’t usually group up together, not least because of their level difference, they still were on good terms with each other. Even with a lower level, as one of the people responsible for keeping them alive, she garnered a certain amount of respect just by default. So when she put in a good word for Xander, the guild wouldn’t ignore her request to give him a chance even if people thought she only recommended him as a personal favor. He was a [Duelist] after all.

But contrary to Andreas’s initial expectations, he was actually impressed with the guy.

As the tank, it fell to him to set the pace for the group, and because of the easy difficulty, steadily increasing it was one of the only ways to gauge Xander’s capabilities.

So that was the other reason for their tempo. He was slowly pushing the group, and Xander in particular, to the very limit.

He was very pleased with what he saw. While Xander made the impression of being somewhat cocky on the surface, he was very clear-headed while fighting and didn’t seem overconfident in his judgment. The [Duelist] seemed like he was actually very meticulous and had outstanding mastery over his class. Never falling behind, and maybe more importantly, never rushing ahead.

Following Andreas’s general lead but quickly adapting if the situation demanded it. Like executing fleeing kobolds or stealthy scouts, with his impressive damage spikes, before they could call reinforcements.

Xander, Andreas, and Lynn were accompanied by an [Elemental Archer] as well as a [Spellslinger]. Both of them were core members of Lynn’s usual group.

Andreas had told both of them to hold back a little and not go all out until they reached the boss. Again, to offer as many opportunities as possible for Xander to prove his worth.

Of course, that didn’t mean that the two were slacking, but it still made the speed at which they progressed all the more impressive.

Naturally, Andreas was aware of the difficulty the Rocky Plains Boss would pose to Xander. Especially after having seen his two weapons.

‘These old things didn’t look like they were enchanted either.’

That still wouldn’t mean that Xander was unable to deal any damage at all, but his usefulness in terms of utility was already limited. So his damage was Xander’s main selling point, and not being able to fully display that damage was rough.

Lynn was also looking over to him, as if asking, “So what did you come up with, to fight this boss? You better not waste this opportunity.”

But in the end, she didn’t say anything and just observed.

“Everyone knows what to do? Everyone set?” Andreas made sure his companions were ready before engaging the at least 4-meter tall metal colossus they just freed.

Xander hesitated for a moment before pulling out a small green bottle.

He opened the thing and spread its contents over one of his stilettos before repeating the process with his other weapon.

‘Poison? Really? That’s what you came up with?’ That was what everyone thought when they observed how Xander carefully applied the green, viscous substance.

After his previous stellar performance, the others were somewhat disappointed by that. Even doing nothing would probably have looked better.

Poison just wouldn’t be very effective in this situation, and one could expect Xander to know that as well as they did.

‘This just looks desperate.’ Lynn couldn’t help but silently chastise him.

“Ready!”

Sigh

Here goes nothing.

Andreas charged towards the huge boss in front of them while receiving a preemptive shield, cast by Lynn.

When he was halfway there, the golem seemed to slowly awaken and started to raise its arms over its head.

Before the sluggish boss could slam them down onto the approaching tank, the man’s large shield already connected with one of the huge legs. The thing was too tall for him to reach the actual body.

The resulting impact was the starting signal for the Damage Dealers.

As soon as the two collided, a barrage of magic arrows and other bright projectiles flew from the back row towards the boss’s chest.

At the same time, Xander who closely followed behind Andreas leaped to flank the metal leg and stabbed forward with both of his weapons. The stilettos looked especially flimsy in this situation. While still in the stabbing motion, he noticed that the green color of the oil had already disappeared and that his weapons didn’t look any different than usual.

‘…’

Stab Stab

The moment his weapons connected, something changed.

The one in his main hand suddenly seemed to glow in a bluish light, while the one in his off-hand lit up in bright red.

His heart skipped a beat when he saw this while feeling the surprisingly low resistance. He knew he dealt actual damage.

‘It works!’

At that moment, all the nervousness and uncertainty he had hidden deep inside his heart melted away.

No matter how confident he was, this trial might very well decide his future as an adventurer.

There was no way it didn’t affect him.

So now he was finally at peace.

He faded out all the unnecessary sensations. The smells, the flashing lights, and the exploding noises that always accompanied magic attacks.

He focused on the boss’s movements so as to not get stomped to death while he activated his limited arsenal of available self-buffing skills.

Stab Stab

Again the red light. Then a brown-greenish shimmer on the other weapon.

He usually targeted his enemies’ critical areas like the heart or the liver, maybe the kidney; Sometimes directly the brain.

In the case he predicted that a fight would be more drawn-out and that he couldn’t quickly finish his target in such a one-shot fashion, he would usually decide to go for the joints. To cripple the enemies’ movements as much as possible.

So now, stabbing at what was basically a huge slab of iron felt really wrong.

But with every stab, his weapons lit up.

Stab Stab

This time, a yellow flash accompanied by an unsettling buzzing sound. Twice.

His attack speed increased.

Stab Stab

The next two attacks followed. With the temporary weapon enchants doing its work.

The green shimmer again.

And then a black one.