After taking a moment for Sammy to mentally prepare herself, the two of us descend down the stairs into Sluice IV. Thankfully, the puddles of sludge remaining are easy to step around, but my goodness the stench somehow got even ranker. And just when I thought I was starting to acclimate and suppress the conscious recognition of these fetid odors.

　　Through means I have no knowledge of, there seem to be some odd fish flopping about in these puddles of cess and literal shit. And no, I don`t care how much of a hunger debuff I might suffer, I won`t be touching them with a thirty foot pole if I can help it.

　　"Are we almost there?" Sammy asks. I admire her innocence, but this is definitely one of the longer dungeons of the first quarter of the game.

　　"We`re going to be here for a while. Unless you`d like to leave the people of Rotini to their fate. But you`re not the type to leave innocents to suffer, are you, Sammy?"

　　"You know what, Ash? Screw you!"

　　"Is that a sincere offer? Because I`m not uninterested if it is."

　　"I`m sure you are! And& I`m sorry. I just hate everything about this place, I almost got killed by a falling rock, it smells worse than my dad`s houseshoes after being left out in the rain, and everything about this place is so disgusting that it makes my head spin."

　　"Then, let`s hurry. The quicker we get the things we need and purge the undeath out of our giant friend, the sooner we can take a long hot dip in the hot springs and get this literal shit behind us."

　　Sammy nods and we quicken our pace. Thankfully no monsters obstruct our path as we walk through the sluice, taking a couple offbeat paths to pick up a pair of treasure chests. One of them contains 3,000 dols, though how that money remained dry after soaking in sludge for goddess-only-knows how long is a mystery for the ages. And more importantly, we collect a Strength Charm.

　　[Strength Charm]

　　A mysterious pendant that increases its wearer`s strength.

　　[Attack +30%], [Accuracy +5%]

　　After I equip it, I realize that in my haste - okay, fine, my time in the hot spring with Sammy and feeling dumbfounded the entire rest of the evening - that I forgot to equip the Experience Charm I got earlier. And I would have leveled up last battle, too. Oh well, if we`re taking a few extra safety strategies, being short a couple hundred experience is hardly the end of the world.

　　I put the two of them on and feel my strength surge yet further, though Sammy`s glare still pierces my defenses and freezes me in place.

　　"I see you`re hoarding all the nice shiny accessories for yourself, Ash. Were you going to get me one? Or am I not good enough for anything more than a simple rock?"

　　I have no idea how to respond to this. One the one hand, she looks absolutely dejected, right down to the sullen lips and the puppy-dog eyes. On the other hand, there really are no good accessories for mages for a good while. So much of their damage output is governed by the base damage stat of their spells that their offensive parameters matter little. And mana recovery pendants don`t start showing up for a few more towns. Though, shuffling through my knowledge of the game, something does come to mind.

　　"Sammy, there`s a nice accessory for you here in these sewers. But it will mean staying here a bit longer. Or, we can go into town and we can buy you something when we get done dealing with this goddess-awful stench!"

　　"You`re the worst, Ash. You know that, don`t you? You spend time in this cluster-muck to get a cute pendant for yourself, but when I want one, suddenly it`s we`ll go get one later`? Goddess help me!"

　　"I`ll-"

　　Sammy cuts me off, storming back toward the central control panel. "You better hurry, Ash. Because once I get to the panel, I`m opening the gate, and you`re going to be swimming with the fishes."

　　I shake my head as I silently walk back a handful of paces behind her. Though I think about protesting, there`s absolutely nothing I can say at this point that doesn`t end up with her even more pissed at me. Yes, it`s mostly the environment eating away at her, but I`m not exactly doing anything to help her mood. The least I can do is avoid making it any worse.

　　Sammy is still pissed, stamping her feet about up the steps as she approaches the sluice controls, and stands over them with a glare pointed directly at me.

　　"Close Gate II," I say. "You want to get out of here as quickly as possible, right? That`s the first gate that we need to close if we want to make it through this ungodly labyrinth."

　　"No. I heard that roar. It was clearly coming from that direction." She points toward the far right side of the room. "We`re going that way."

　　With a grunt and a grimace, she pulls the dial to Gate VI and the gears again begin to screech. Thank goodness I`ve not grown more adept at hearing as part of my levels, or I think I`d bleed my ears out. With creaking and the woosh of flowing sludge, Gate IV opens, and a few moments later, Gate VI closes. I do consider pointing out that the puzzle of this maze requires pulling a series of switches down each sewer canal, but given Sammy`s tempestuous mood, I decide to keep my mouth shut and follow along. We`ll be here a little longer, but at least this way I keep my head where I prefer it.

　　Sammy continues onward at a forced march, and I follow a few paces behind. I sigh internally, careful not to make any noises or gestures that might set her off. She`s no longer huffing angrily as she storms through the sewers, which is a positive development. A small one, but given her mood, I`ll take what I can get.

　　A pair of skeletons approach us. Correction - they approach Sammy, but a pair of Heals on each of them sends them back into the abyss where they belong. And the rush of gaining a new level quickly washes over me, followed by the subtle toning of muscles and tightening of tendons that comes with that newfound strength. Although the physical differences are rather minor and only noticeable since the start of the adventure - most of the strength gain is magical, as the game system infuses our bodies with more of its power.

　　And sure enough, we arrive at an impasse as a river of sludge. The boss is just beyond it, but in order to cross it, we have to pull a series of switches at the end of Sluices II, III, and V, and-

　　Sammy interrupts my train of thought. "You said I was about four times stronger than I was when we left Penne, right?"

　　"About that, yes."

　　Sammy nods and, for the first time since we entered this cesspit, a devious smile breaks across her face. She leaps into the air, nearly touching the ceiling before she descends back down and drops next to me.

　　"Well, so much for all this stuff that you said that we need to do. The only question I have is: Why in the goddess`s name did you think we couldn`t jump across such a trivial river?"The tale has been taken without authorization; if you see it on Amazon, report the incident.

　　Well, I`ll be damned. You can`t do that in the game due to invisible ankle-high barriers and the lack of a jump function, but she`s right. There`s absolutely no reason why we shouldn`t be able to leap across such a trivial gap. I reach my hand past the edge of the walkway, half expecting an invisible barrier to block my movement. But none comes. And I extend my right foot across, to the same lack of reaction.

　　The moment of truth comes. I`m still worried that I`ll slam into a barrier as I jump across the gap. Or worse, one on the other side of the aqueduct, one which will send me directly to a place I dare not mention. But better me than Sammy - I owe her that much, at least.

　　In a single bound, I cross the chasm, and Sammy follows a moment later. Her jump is a bit weaker and shorter owing to her lower strength, and she nearly falls backward into the river of sludge, though I grab her hand at the last second and pull her toward me. The force of my tug and her slamming into me sends me backward, knocking me onto the floor and her on top of me. I feel a wave of nausea come over me, imagining grotesque liquids seeping into my hair, but Sammy`s smile, now genuine, suppresses my sickness.

　　"And you wanted to go through all that trouble with those other sluices." Sammy stands back up. "Seriously, Ash, what would you do without me?"

　　"Says the woman who`d be swimming in the sludge without me!" I jump back to my feet. My clothes and back are damp with what I`m going to say is water condensate, but otherwise I don`t seem to have taken any damage from the incident.

　　"Okay, okay, that`s fair. Truce?"

　　"Truce." I say. "Now then, ready for a nice showdown with our scaly friend down there?"

　　"You can go down there if you want. Or, we could just& stay up here where it`s safer."

　　Another wonderful idea, at least to start out, especially that I have a ranged attack I wouldn`t normally have during the speedrun. Sammy readies her spells while I stand to her side, ready to intercept or melee at a moment`s notice.

　　And with a shout of Triple Firebolt,` three flaming spheres fly toward the sleeping mass of bone and chitin - the same shape and general appearance of a common snake`s skeleton, though far, far larger than even the largest ones on Earth. On their own, the fiery orbs don`t seem to do too much beyond irritate the creature, but this is to be expected - it`s definitely the bulkiest creature we`ve encountered to this point, and fortunately, the last major enemy we`ll have to fight as a pair.

　　She quickly unleashes a second volley, and I leap down in their wake to attack from close range, using a Vacuum Slash to further stagger the creature as I close the distance. Sammy`s attacks alone aren`t doing too much, and though I do have some ranged attacks, I`m still predominantly a close-range combatant. My Light-elemental attack is met with a loud cry, and a thrusting slash into its skull is met with a still louder one. Still, Sammy`s strategy was helpful - probably about seven hundred damage so far before the fight begins in earnest.

　　It raises its head high above, giving us a full view of its monstrous size, and as its head slams into the wall, more chunks of sediment drop onto the ground and the walls around us shake. I steel my resolve and let fly a second Vacuum Slash to stun the creature before it can drop the entire ceiling on us. I`m successful at breaking a few bones and hopefully crippling its movement a bit, though Sammy seems stunned as the creature lurches toward her.

　　Shit. The last thing I need is for my healer to go down in the middle of a boss fight. No, even if she weren`t our healer, I still don`t want my friend to get hurt. No idea if Taunt works on undead abominations without a brain, but it`s worth a shot.

　　"Hey, you overgrown bone heap! I`m the one with the shining sword!" I cleave through another two of its dozens of massive ribs to accentuate the point. "Yeah, I bet you didn`t like that, you brainless dolt! So why don`t you leave her alone and focus on the big threat here!"

　　I don`t give the snake a chance to respond, slithering my way inside the bony cage that makes up its interior. It reeks of foul, necrotic ooze that seeps off its bones, acid that starts to burn at my skin, but I`m going to make this damned monster pay after threatening Sammy like that. With a vicious Vacuum Slash at point-blank range, I cleave through the tendons connecting its bony structure together and, with one final thrust, bisect the zombified ophidian before I rush out of its structure. The acid damage is adding up and we`ve still got a good portion of this battle to go.

　　The snake eyes me, venomous fangs drawn, seeking my flesh. I leap out of the way of its pouncing strike, evading its bite but still suffering knockback from the creature`s jaw grazing against me. The pain welling up in my joints, especially my shoulders, freezes me in place as the snake collides with the side of the circular arena, and I lose my chance for an attack of opportunity.

　　As I force myself to and our adversary shrugs off its collision, a warm, bright light envelops me. My wounds close, the pain dissipates, and my focus returns.

　　I turn to Sammy and call out to her. "This is another undead! Heal it when you can!"

　　"Got it!"

　　I turn back to the serpent. Judging by the injuries it`s sustained, I`d say we`ve dealt somewhere close to 3,500 damage, meaning around 1,250 left. The two of us stare, my eyes meeting its bony eye sockets as it lurches down to my level. I assume a defensive stance - with Sammy readying another heal spell, any delay serves to our advantage.

　　Though, we don`t get one. It slams into me, and even with its diminished form and my superhuman strength, I can only partially redirect the behemoth`s momentum. I get flung into the wall, leaving a crater from the impact. Nothing seems to be broken yet, but I`m going to have a lot of bruises in the morning from that attack. Eyeing my status window, I`m down to 350 health left - I don`t remember a single attack this boss has capable of dealing nearly five hundred damage. But it`s not the time to futz about that.

　　Using the small opening I get from Sammy`s next volley of Firebolts, I begin spinning with all the momentum I can force out of my aching muscles before unleashing my Sworderang technique. It spins around toward its target, the light emitting from my sword creating the appearance of a disc-shaped attack not unlike those I`ve seen in some shounen anime. By the goddess`s blessing, the attack hits home, and I use the knockback time to jump back on the side of the arena next to Sammy.

　　She rushes over to me with glowing hands, but I send her away. "No, Sammy! We`ve almost won! It should go down with one more Heal! Don`t worry about me; I`m not as injured as I look!"

　　Sammy freezes as the serpent slithers toward me. My sword is still careening around the arena and it won`t be back in time for me to fight the next onslaught off. I close my eyes, hoping that Sammy listens to me this time. That hopefully her trust in my game knowledge hasn`t completely evaporated after our fight over the sluice controls and her desire for some accessories of her own.

　　I wince from the pain radiating throughout my body and lower my head, knowing that the fight hinges on whether Sammy heals me or the creature. It dives toward me and I sidestep toward Sammy, hoping that maybe I can avoid its fangs and maybe emerge alive, though in critical condition. A blue light shines above once more, easing my pain in my final moments, before the entire creature hisses and begins to sear from the heavenly light scouring the scourge of undeath from its form. Its skull stops inches from my face and falls to the ground right before my sword returns to my hand. With the last bit of strength I can muster, I impale it one final time with my Shining Blade, ensuring that its return to death is permanent.

　　I smile as my strength leaves me and I collapse on the ground. Even this filth isn`t going to deter me from a desperately-needed rest.

　　Experience: 11,930

　　To Next: 2,920

　　Experience: 11,199

　　To Next: 3,651

　　Ashley Lancaster

　　Level 15

　　Samantha Relford

　　Level 15

　　HP:

　　171 / 1034

　　HP:

　　756 / 756

　　MP:

　　11 / 163

　　MP:

　　56 / 218