Pikaru held firmly against the mighty paws of the hideous beast that was looming before him. For the first time since the fight began, he was truly struggling.
That beast was most likely the leader of the pack and had excessive strength.
The ability that Pikaru had activated had allowed him to evenly distribute the strength of all the beasts and transmit it to him; finding himself at a disadvantage, a certain condition had been accepted by his relic.
The problem was that the forces that were necessary for the other beasts were superfluous for the pack leader: it was a fight between two equal monsters.
Meanwhile, Aquilo remained stationary; his tactic was to use his powerful legs to fend off the monsters. It was a good plan!
Too bad there's someone the one standing in His way. Aquilo looked at a blond half-elf who was standing still, observing the battlefield.
"How about you start moving!" Aquilo growled at Kon.
Kon was scared. He had to admit: he'd never faced a situation like this. He was sure that somehow he could overcome his fear and face the dangers of the Dungeon, when he was a kid.
He thought he had a good physique; in fact, there was no one in the orphanage who could surpass him, but in that situation it made no sense.
Even Aquilo, who was not a Gifted, was capable of blows so powerful that he could simultaneously hurl eight of those beasts.
What did I think I was doing? I'm not Gifted.
Kon knew it wouldn't be easy and said he was always ready to die, but in the face of danger, everyone remembers the importance of their own life.
A monster lunged at Kon, ready to bite him with its sharp, white jaws. Survival instinct made him instinctively raise his knife at the monster, but the closer he got, the more he knew he had to run.
The monster leaped towards him and easily managed to scratch the skin of Kon's chest with its claws. Kon let out a heart-rending scream of pain, a scream that neither of the other two heard due to the infernal noise those monsters were creating.
Kon fell to the ground as he felt a warm liquid trickle down his body. Fortunately, it wasn't a deep wound, but the wound was more psychological than physical: he couldn't move, he was shaking, and he was sure he would die right there.
Seconds earlier, the fight between Pikaru and the Alpha had been raging. It was a physical battle of strength; it was like watching a sumo wrestle between two legendary fighters with equal power. But there was one small difference.
Pikaru punched and grabbed the monster's legs whenever it raised them to strike, then threw it forcefully. It was clear the Alpha was running out of energy, and Pikaru intended to continue until it was exhausted.
But as he prepared for the long battle of resistance, he noticed out of the corner of his eye that Kon had been injured.
Pikaru's eyes looked scared; he was clearly afraid for Kon's life!
Pikaru wasted no time and cancelled his spell to prepare another.
"Strength depends on speed," he recited, and although he was at least four meters away from the beast, he appeared in front of it and with a powerful blow destroyed the wolf's head.
As soon as the Alpha died, all the monsters fainted and began to lose life.
Kon was still trembling, as with his own eyes he saw a noble and elegant figure approaching him.
"Goddess, absorb our pain." As he chanted this, Kon's pain began to ease; it was still there but perfectly bearable.
But Aquilo had a strange expression.
"Hey! What did you do to me!" Aquilo asked angrily as he approached the silver-haired boy menacingly.
"Sorry, I'm not a high-level Gifted yet. My level is quite low; I had to share Kon's pain among as many people as possible within a fifty-meter radius," Pikaru replied with a regretful smile.
"You're telling me I'm going to have to carry the pain of this idiot who almost killed us! You know very well he slowed us down. Look at you: with a little more time, you could have won without spending too much energy."
Indeed, the second spell cast by Pikaru had cost him a lot of Spirit Energy that he should have saved for the boss.
"I can't even understand why you didn't let him die," Aquilo asked without regard for poor Kon.
Pikaru's expression became serious this time as he said in a cold voice, "Hey, don't you dare say things like that, even by accident."
Aquilo was able to immediately understand who the predator in that room was.Wow! Is the difference between a Gifted Person and a normal person that big?
"O-okay… but what do you want to do with him? You'll have to admit, he'll bother us."
Pikaru was thinking about what to do, but it was quite obvious that he agreed with Aquilo on what he had just said.
Kon stood there in silence; he was observing the scene, almost moved to tears. That's because they were right: he was useless. He'd never done anything worthwhile, no one had ever appreciated him.
He'd never blamed his life as an outcast on being a half-elf, and he'd never cursed his parents for never being there for him. He didn't know them, he couldn't do something so terrible.
But Kon didn't want to give up. It was useless, yes, but he could change his situation.
"Please, let me continue with you," Kon said, looking at them with serious eyes.
Pikaru saw the serious, determined look in Kon's moist, shining eyes.
He's just like you… Aipo, thought Pikaru as a warm smile formed on his face.
"If that's your choice, then fine, you can continue following us," Pikaru said, extending her hand, which Kon gladly accepted. "Don't worry."
Aquilo was visibly annoyed by this choice but didn't speak to anyone as he continued down the corridor that would lead to the Dungeon room.
…
The three no longer encountered large groups of monsters like the one they had faced previously, but several scattered, lone monsters that were easily defeated by Pikaru, who no longer used his Relic's abilities to conserve energy.
In fact, even a Relic of LV 1 was as powerful as a Streeble sword forged by one of the best blacksmiths in the kingdom.
Aquilo, who no longer seemed nervous, asked Pikaru, "What kind of skill was that that allowed you to kill that monster with a single hit?"
Pikaru waited a moment before answering, as if to be sure whether or not to tell him. "As you know, to create a Relic you need an Ether; my Ether is: 'Control the field as you control us.' In short, I can decide to impose rules within a limited area. What I use is to be equal in some aspect, like physique. That's why I looked beastly during combat. But introducing overly complex rules can hurt me."
Kon knew that, even if he didn't want to show it, Pikaru was exhausted from saving him. "So when you saved me, you used a rule that was too complex?"
Pikaru replied, "Well, let's say yes."
As they walked, Pikaru stopped, turned around, and said firmly:
"We're close to the Boss's room, get ready because there's no turning back from here."