Loki's Renard

Arc 2 Chapter 8 - How to Rank Up

Hey guys, welcome to the next chapter. We've had another timeskip and it's about time we wrap up Arc 2, so this is the official introduction to the final mini-arc of Arc 2, the Rank Up Mini-Arc. Be sure to vote and comment and all that, but for now, onto the story!

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Akihide looked down at the giant claw mark. "Okay... this is definitely bigger than the regular Infant Dragon..." he muttered, looking back at his party. Ryuu, Ardee and Airmid looked between each other with a mixture of concern and excitement. A sense of adventure. Ryuu felt the need to catch up grow as Alise and Kaguya were beginning to approach their caps at level 2, and would soon be looking for an adventure to rank them up to level 3, much like how several other members of her familia had Ranked Up in the year she had been with them. Ardee was much the same as their elven teammate. She was looking for an excuse to try and Rank Up and stand alongside her sister and the rest of her familia.

Airmid, however, was more cautious and concerned about this. Their party had never even faced a regular Infant Dragon before, and they only started hunting for the things that day, since they all decided that they were about as high in the stats category as they could be before a Rank Up. A regular Infant Dragon was fine, they had been trained on how to deal with them thanks to Riveria and their other teachers going on about their weaknesses. They knew their enemy, and they knew how to beat that enemy.

But this? What Akihide was describing was either a Variant or an Enhanced Species. They hadn't even encountered a regular Infant Dragon in the five months hey had been exploring the 12th floor, so they were in no way prepared for an enhanced species. Sure, she had done pretty much all she could do, stat wise, seeing as she had maxed out her magic stat to 999, and how her other stats were ranging from B to E, thanks to their mishaps on Floors 11 and 12 during their adventures, but she still didn't know if she was truly ready to take on an Infant Dragon. "I don't know about this..." she said to the group, getting the three others to turn to her. "I mean... shouldn't we start with a regular Infant Dragon first before trying our luck against an Enhanced Species?"

"I guess you're right..." muttered Ardee, sighing as she put her sword back in the sheath. "Should we head to Floor 11 just to relax for a bit, or should we call it a day and go home? We've been down here for hours after all, and the drop items and magic stones are getting kinda heavy..." she said with a cheeky smile, probably hoping to go home rather than waste more time on Floor 11, where there would be no way for them to gain good Excilia.

Ryuu sighed. "Maybe we'll call it a day in the dungeon, rest a bit more before the lessons about the Cave Labyrinth with Riveria-sama." said the leader of the party, turning to the three of them. "Good work today, everyone. We'll pick up where we left off tomorrow, and hunt a standard Infant Dragon." she said, turning around to go towards the exit to Floor 11.

However, a problem in the form of a large, blue dragon standing around 4 meters tall and 10 meters long blocking the path to the stairs. The blue dragon seemed to be looking right at them from around 40 meters away, which was about how far they could see through the mist of Floor 12. "That's gonna be a problem..." muttered Ryuu, looking back at their team, who seemed to be fine apart from a bit of panic. "Okay... so we have 2 high potions, 2 mind potions, and two low healing potions. Think we can take this thing on?" she asked her comrades.

Ardee smirked and cracked her knuckles. "Only one way to find out! We can't leave so we have to fight!" she said, her smile brightening the moral of Kiddy Party.

"I can blind it." said Akihide, drawing Utsukushī-me from it's sheath. "I just need to use my skill and get close to the eye. That should make a blind spot we can exploit." said the youngest member of their group.