Yuki walked alongside the new party, with Owen flying overhead.
Maxwell, The Tank, was in front with his Great Shield raised.
Yuki was behind him, as one of the Strongest Damage dealers in the party.
Behind her walked the tamer, Who Yuki had now learned was called Joseph. He was admiring Owen while his own summoned beast; An Eagle with Flaming feathers, flew ahead as a scout.
And lastly, the two bitchy girls at the rear, one was a mage: Tiffany. And the other was an archer: Sabrina.
Yuki pulled up the party system and laughed at the coincidence she was seeing:
[Party-play XP distribution]: based on contribution
- Maxwell lord (C-Rank lvl 25/100)
- Joseph Joemoon (C-Rank lvl 23/100)
- Tiffany Star (C-Rank lvl 20/100)
- Sabrina Star (C-Rank lvl 19/100)
- Yuki Goldberg (C-Rank lvl 0/100)
Yuki chuckled. She was reminded of the C-ranks that tried to assault her in the D-rank dungeon. They were brothers too. And now these bitchy girls were sisters? How was it that she always had a way of attracting hatred from a pair of siblings?
"what's that big breasted attention seeker laughing at" Tiffany spat, spinning her magic staff in irritation.
"I don't know sis, but that bitch hasn't even levelled, why does she get to have Dragon and I don't?!" Sabrina replied, tugging at her bow string hard enough for it to creak.
Owen ignored them entirely, unlike himself. Normally he would have snapped at people disrespecting Yuki but right now, it just seemed like children bickering. Their voices faded into the background as Owen's mana sense stretched outward, sweeping the surroundings. Threads of the dungeon's mana brushed against his awareness, faint fluctuations deeper below, scattered groups of monsters and something with a denser mana signature on the last floor. Presumably the dungeon boss.
The Dungeon was unlike the field-type dungeon Yuki had explored before, it was a classic basement layout: stone walls, low ceilings and narrow hallways that lead downwards from floor to floor.
They were on the first floor and Owen could feel the downward pull of monster mana signatures waiting beneath. Owen's wings flapped as he adjusted midair, his golden eyes fixing onto targets at a distance.
"Yuki" he called telepathically. "Get ready. something's coming"
Five kobolds emerged from the shadows, Growling short creatures with dog heads and gripping daggers. The flaming feathered eagle screeched ahead, alerting everyone as it dove in.
Yuki stepped forward to engage, but tiffany and Sabrina immediately shoved her aside. "don't even dream of getting a higher contribution ratio than us!" Tiffany hissed.
"Yeah, stay back and cheer for us with those big sacks of meat" Sabrina added, pushing past her with her bow drawn.
Yuki clenched her fist and moved to step forward again but Owen flew to her and blocked her path.
"wait" he said calmly. "This might be fun to watch"
Yuki's annoyance dissolved as she held her position and focused her gave at the party.
The Kobolds charged at them.
Maxwell reacted first. His great shield slammed into the ground with a metallic thud as he activated his [Aggro] skill. Three kobolds instantly redirected their sprint toward him, shrieking as they hacked uselessly against his shield.
Joseph snapped his fingers, summoning a second tamed beast; A black-furred boar with a flaming red mane. The creature roared and lunged at one of the remaining kobolds. The flaming eagle swooped beside it, slashing the kobold with its claws.
Meanwhile, Tiffany hurled a [wind blast] skill forward, a wild and unfocused gale of wind, far too strong for the narrow corridor. The blast barely missed Sabrina, who cursed at her and fired a [multi shot] volley of arrows at the last kobold. Her arrows and Tiffany's wind blast collided in a chaotic combination that somehow managed to kill the creature despite the clumsy execution and unintended teamplay.
The entire fight was clumsy.
No coordination.
No formation.
No synergy.
Everyone was fighting separately, competing against themselves for contribution ratio.
Yuki watched them exhaust themselves for mere five kobolds that should've been an effortless battle.
Owen snorted. "Greedy amateurs"
---
This clumsy display and lack of coordination continued till they reached the end of the first floor, and began walking down the spirally stairs to the second floor.
"hah~! Beat that, bitch" Tiffany said as she gave Yuki the middle finger, gasping for air as if she had just run a marathon. They all looked like they had run marathons.
Unlike the first floor, the moment they arrived at the second floor, they were greeted by two kobolds. Not like the one on the first floor, these ones were bigger, human size, and wore fine leather and bronze armor.
"they're mine!" joseph shouted as his Black-furred flaming boar rushed towards the armored kobolds.
The first armored kobold met joseph's charging board head-on. One brutal swing of its axe cleaved through the beast's skull. The tamed creature burst into glowing particles, dissolving instantly.
Joseph screamed as the backlash hit him. His body trembled, his mana flared and he collapsed to the ground clutching his chest.
"Pathetic nerd" Tiffany snorted.
"yeah, loser, do better" Sabrina added as they both stepped forward.
Tiffany unleased her [Wind blast]. Sabrina fired her [Multi shot]. Both attacks struck the armored kobolds but barely damaged them.
The kobolds barked and rushed straight at the sisters.
Maxwell reacted on instinct. He ran ahead, slamming his great shield down and activating his [Aggro] skill. Both kobolds redirected their attacks towards him instantly.
BAAM!
Maxwell was launched into the air and sent crashing backward into the sisters, knocking all three of them to the floor.
A heavy silence followed as dust rose. Yuki stepped over them, looking down on them disappointedly.
'So…" she said. "am I finally permitted to fight now?"
Maxwell, bartered and humiliated, gave a stiff nod.
Yuki exhaled and dawn on a big smile. "Good!"
She glanced at Owen. "looks like it's finally our turn"
Owen's golden eyes glowed intensely as flew right above her.
"Yeah, time for those new skills to go crazy"