Year 1451, month 10, day 06

  The morning began with a subtle shift in the household routine. Today, the girls managed to wake up well before me, their internal clocks seemingly harmonizing with the demands of our new life. By the time I stirred from my sleep, the scent of toasted bread and brewing tea had already begun to waft up the stairs. They had prepared everything with quiet efficiency before coming to call for me. We sat together at the sturdy wooden table, eating our shares in a comfortable, focused silence. It was a good start to the day. Once the meal was finished and the dishes cleared, we transitioned into our professional roles. We moved to our respective rooms, the rhythmic clicking of buckles and the rustle of leather filling the house as we donned our equipment for the day's venture.

  Our objective for this excursion was the fifth floor of the Yargan Dungeon. Woya and Wyn had technically faced the individual monster types that inhabited this level before, but the prospect of the floor’s guardian—the mini-boss—weighed on my mind. While their teamwork had improved by leaps and bounds, the jump in power for a floor guardian is a significant hurdle for novices. I was nearly certain they would eventually require my direct assistance to see the battle through to its conclusion.

  As we descended into the familiar, damp corridors of the dungeon, the girls initially progressed with swift confidence. Their experience on the previous floors allowed them to read the monsters' movements, anticipating lunges and strikes before they even occurred. However, the pace naturally began to slow as we pushed deeper into the fifth floor. Here, the difficulty spike was palpable. Every creature we encountered was consistently level 5, and even the smaller pests, like the horned mosquitoes, carried a far more lethal speed and aggression at this level than their counterparts on the higher floors.

  There were several moments where the girls found themselves in genuinely precarious situations. The level 5 monsters were coordinated and resilient. I stood back, watching with a keen eye, ready to intervene. I chose to aid them primarily with my magic; by using ranged spells, I could neutralize threats without physically entering the fray and disrupting their combat balance. It also served as excellent practice for me, allowing me to refine the manifestation of my elemental skills in a live-combat environment.

  After several hours of methodical clearing and eliminating every group of monsters that crossed our path, we finally arrived at the heavy stone doors of the boss room. To my disappointment, the area was already crowded. Six other adventuring groups were huddled in the corridor, waiting for their turn. This was the reality of a popular dungeon; with every group taking anywhere from twenty to thirty minutes to conclude their fight, we were looking at a substantial wait.

  We settled in for the long haul. Standing directly in front of us was a party of four that immediately commanded my attention. The leader appeared to be a man of impressive height with a bulky, muscular frame suited for a vanguard. Beside him stood a lithe woman with the sharp, alert movements of a rogue, and a slender, fit swordsman who kept his hand near his hilt. However, the most noteworthy member of their group was the fourth: a short woman, or perhaps a child, with an exquisite, fancy bow hanging across her back.

  It is quite rare to see a dedicated bow user inside a dungeon. The tight, narrow corridors and unpredictable corners generally make long-range weapons a liability. But aside from the rarity of her weapon, she was strikingly beautiful, and her most prominent feature caught my eye immediately—her long, pointy ears.

  ***

  Elaris

  Race: Elf

  Sex: Female

  Status: Normal

  Equipment:

  Greenwood Bow○○

  Leather Breast Armor○

  Leather Gloves

  Leather Footwear○

  Job: Archer Level 25

  ***

  As I had suspected upon seeing her features, she was an elf. Possessing the Archer job at level 25 made her a formidable asset to her team. An archer is a highly advantageous role when supported by a competent party that can block any enemies trying to reach the backline. As I watched them, I found myself contemplating the future composition of my own party; perhaps adding a ranged specialist would be a wise move once Woya and Wyn were more seasoned.

  After a grueling wait of approximately two and a half hours, the heavy doors finally groaned open for us. Our time had come. We stepped into the chamber, the air thick with the scent of mana and ancient stone. I watched as the room began to shift, the environment and the boss taking their physical shapes. I had spent our time in the queue thoroughly briefing the girls on the nature of this specific mini-boss, so they were not caught by surprise when the creature manifested.

  I felt a surge of genuine excitement. In the beginning, training them had felt like teaching children the basics of walking, but they had gradually started to show flashes of brilliance. I was eager to see their performance against a true floor guardian. I had already provided them with the boss’s power scale, its predictable attack patterns, and its target-selection habits. With that knowledge, I believed they could at least avoid any fatal strikes.

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  The girls were eager to fight, their focus narrowing as the boss—a massive, iron-scaled serpent—raised its head. It towered over them, its cold, reptilian eyes looking down from above. Because of the monster’s sheer size, a shield wouldn't be able to protect both of them at once. Woya realized this instinctively; she could only use her shield to deflect and lighten the direct blows she received. To compensate, they chose to split up, attacking the serpent from two different sides to divide its attention. It was a solid tactical choice that showed their growing combat instincts.

  When the signal was given, the girls lunged forward, both aiming for the snake's head from opposite flanks. Woya, positioned to the right of my perspective, suddenly aborted her strike. She dodged violently to the side, planting her feet and bracing behind her shield. A split second later, the serpent’s massive tail whipped through the air, smashing into the stone exactly where Woya had been standing a moment before. She must have caught the slight muscular shift in the tail before the attack launched. My own high sense stats allowed me to track the movement clearly, but for a novice, her reaction time was impressive.

  Following that narrow miss, the rhythm of the battle shifted. Woya and Wyn stopped their simultaneous assault on the head. The snake focused its primary aggression on Wyn, forcing her to weave through its strikes as she tried to find an opening, while it used its tail to keep Woya in check.

  The girls fought with gritted teeth for nearly twenty minutes. The serpent's body was beginning to show the toll of the encounter; its head and tail were covered in jagged wounds. Its movements grew sluggish as blood loss took its toll, leaving small crimson puddles scattered across the chamber floor. However, the girls were also reaching their limits. Their breathing was ragged, and their movements were no longer as crisp as they had been at the start of the fight. They began to make small, dangerous mistakes while dodging or trying to block the serpent’s heavy strikes.

  Seeing their exhaustion, I decided it was time to provide more active support. It was easy to hit such a large target with accuracy. I began to cycle through the elements to test their effectiveness against this specific foe. In this world, the elements carry distinct properties: Wind provides high penetration, Fire causes wide-area surface damage and intense pain, Earth deals heavy external bludgeoning damage, and Water inflicts internal injuries.

  The serpent’s thick, iron-like scales acted as natural armor against Wind and Earth, which did little more than scuff its hide. Fire caused the creature to shriek in agony, but it didn't seem to slow its physical movements much. Water, however, proved to be devastating. It seemed the serpent possessed a natural resistance to Earth but a glaring weakness to Water magic.

  After a few more clashes, the mini-boss was finally on the verge of collapse. The girls wisely retreated, putting distance between themselves and the creature in case it attempted a final, desperate death-throe attack. I stepped forward to land the finishing blow.

  “Water Ball!”

  I manifested a sphere of pressurized water and launched it directly at the serpent’s head. When the spell collided, there was no jagged external wound, but the creature’s head bulged outward as if it were being inflated from the inside. The internal pressure was too much; it collapsed instantly.

  With that final strike, the girls’ first mini-boss hunt was successfully completed. The massive iron serpent began to disintegrate into motes of light, and the boss room returned to its inert state. Woya, true to her habit, immediately ran toward the center of the room to collect the loot. She gathered 1 silver and 50 copper coins, tucking them away as she always did.

  “Thank you, master. Thanks to you, we were able to win against it,” Wyn said, approaching me and performing an elegant, respectful bow.

  “What are you talking about?” I replied with a chuckle. “The two of you were the ones who did the heavy lifting. I only helped a little at the very end.”

  “Yes, but it was only possible because we could fight with such confidence,” she pointed out, her eyes sincere. “We knew that our master was watching our backs, and that kept us from panicking.”

  I found myself genuinely pleased by her words. Their trust in me was solidifying, which created a beneficial cycle for everyone involved. They fought well, and their success only made them more capable of the challenges ahead.

  “Master!” Woya’s voice rang out, calling for my attention.

  “What is it, Woya?” I asked, turning toward her.

  She ran back to me, her face bright with excitement, and held out an object that had appeared where the mini-boss had fallen. “Here it is, master. I found this among the coins the monster dropped.”

  In her hand lay an Iron Serpent Fang. This item is a guaranteed drop from the fifth-floor mini-boss. Since this was her first time encountering a boss drop, it was natural that she didn't recognize it. I took a moment to explain the system to them—how every fifth floor contains a mini-boss that yields a specific item alongside the usual coin drops. I told them we would head to the Dungeon Raider Guild together so I could show them where it was located and walk them through the process of selling monster materials.

  Even though the fifth floor was significantly larger and more time-consuming than the previous ones, we had progressed well enough that it was still only early afternoon. We began the trek toward the eastern side of the inner city, where the guild was situated. The walk took us past a variety of shops, bustling inns, and crowded taverns. Finally, the imposing facade of the guild building came into view. Being located so close to the canyon entrance, the guild was perpetually busy with a high volume of visitors.

  We stepped inside the cavernous hall. I instructed the girls to wait by the entrance while I handled the transaction. The queue for the appraisal counter wasn't particularly long; most adventurers were still deep in the dungeon and wouldn't return until sundown. When my turn arrived, I engaged in a bit of back-and-forth bargaining with the clerk, eventually securing a price of 52 silver coins for the fang.

  Having finished my business, I turned back to locate the girls. They were exactly where I had left them, but they were no longer alone. A small crowd had gathered around them, and they seemed to be engaged in a lively conversation. Upon looking closer, I recognized the group—it was the same party of four that had been in line ahead of us at the boss room.

  The three adults were standing slightly back, watching with amused expressions as the elf girl, Elaris, spoke animatedly with Woya and Wyn. Both of my girls were smiling, listening intently to the young archer and responding with a warmth I hadn't expected them to show to strangers. It seemed the shared experience of the dungeon had already begun to bridge the gap between them.

  I began to walk toward them, curious to see what kind of conversation could make my usually reserved slaves look so at ease in the middle of a crowded guild hall.

  [Edited]

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