New Game Plus

The Cloak of Immolation

After healing my wounds using magic, I proceed to walk through the forest in search of my friend. With the [White Zone] surrounding me, I cool down my body that began to burn up due to the environment. It has been about an hour since we first entered the dungeon, so we had to leave soon, or else our parents would begin to worry.

As I navigate through the forest, I hear loud voices of other people. I turn off my [White Zone] and listened carefully. It was a conversation between two young adventurers, both male.

"Which way do you think the [Hidden Boss] is?" An excited voice asks.

"You still want to look for it? The thing's already dead, isn't it? There's no point to look for it now." A duller, bored voice appears right after.

"But I really want to see it! A bear that's on fire! That'd be an amazing sight! Besides, we came here to look for it after hearing the announcement right? It'd be a shame to leave without even seeing its appearance!" So people immediately came here to slay the thing, huh? I guess it's only natural, after hearing a system announcement about a new hidden boss.

"I think it's more important to find the party that killed the monster. The [Dungeon Master] for this dungeon needed a small group of [A-ranked] adventurers to bring it down, so I want to know which group took down the [Hidden Boss] so fast after it was summoned. Based on how fast it died, I assume this group is also the same one that fulfilled the conditions to summon it. That means they're at least [S-Ranked] adventurers, but what would they be doing in this kind of low-leveled dungeon? Are they doing this dungeon for fun?" This man here is quite a theory crafter. I mean, he got quite some things wrong, but who'd actually guess that an 8 year old child with no rank would kill a [Hidden Boss] on her own?

After listening to a part of their conversation, I decided to stop and continue traversing through the forest. There was no point to listening to their talk, and I needed to find Thoth before it became dark, so I continued my search. Along the way, there were several more adventurers roaming the forest, also looking for the [Hidden Boss]. I avoid them on the way, using stealth and illusions to bypass them.

If any of them saw me now, I'd probably be reported to the [Adventurer's Guild] for trespassing without a [Adventurer's Card], and be expelled from school. That'd make life a bit more difficult for me in the future, so I want to avoid that if possible.
Occasionally, a wolf or a sparrow would try to ambush me, and I killed them every time they did so. By the time I finally found my target, it's been over half an hour, and I killed another 4 wolves and 9 sparrows.

At the edge in the east side of the dungeon, I see Thoth surrounded by a large pack of wolves, in the middle of combat. Upon seeing this, I was just about to dash in and help her, but it seemed like she didn't need any help at all.

She was going on the offensive against the pack, attacking the small fry first. As they try to bite her and strike her with their claws, she evades them and counter attacks, hitting a lethal area every time. It takes about two or three attacks for her to kill them, occasionally getting a good thrust into their mouths and heads, killing them in one hit.

Some of them stay back and try to breathe fire at them, but her armor absorbs the flames, rendering them useless. Sometimes she counters using with some of her [Demon Skills], only one that I recognized. It was the same one she used against me in our final battle, a spell that fires a large, dark lance towards the enemy. Another one she used created a larger, shadow version of the weapon she's using in her other hand, allowing her to dual wield with a magic and physical weapon.

After killing the final wolf, she faces off with the alpha wolf, and raised both of her swords, ready to strike. The wolf snarls at her, but doesn't make the first move. So instead of waiting for the wolf, Thoth dashes forward. She makes an underhand slash with both swords, and the wolf tries to dodge it by jumping back a bit, before jumping forward to bite at her. Something strange happens with her movements though. As if defying the laws of physics, her slash stops instantly as if the momentum just disappeared into thin air. She raises both blades and spun around instantly, slashing down at the Alpha Wolf's head, both swords entering its skull.

She also used this strange movement at the end of our final battle. After killing my last [Phantasm], her body instantly shifted to my direction as if she didn't just have thrusted her spear in the opposite direction firing her demon lance spell. Now that I got a clearer look at it, it seems that she has the power to make the momentum of her attacks disappear at will, allowing her to change her stance or position. This kind of ability would be invaluable in group battles and performing feints.

She was alone now, standing between a pile of wolf corpses, this was my chance to go up and talk to her. I didn't know what to say though, and because of that, I just remain where I stand. Fortunately, I didn't need to say something.

"Have you regain your bearings after slaying a [Hidden Boss], [Hero]?" Thoth says out loud, and looks towards the direction I'm at. So she knew that I was here the whole time. I step out the shadow of the tree I was hiding behind, and walk up to her. Suddenly, she thrusts her shortsword at me, and I catch it using my hands by grabbing the flat sides of the blade. She smiles upon seeing this.

"Welcome back, [Hero]." I nod in response, before saying;

"I'm back."
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After that, we left the dungeon the same way we entered. Why? Because I found it easier that way. Thoth scolded me again as soon as it happened, but I ignored it. It reached dark by the time we return to the city, so we immediately parted ways upon entering the city. I decided to take a little detour before heading home, going towards the directions of the slums. I roam around in this desolate area before finding an empty parking lot.

I pull out the item I received from the [Inferno Bear], wanting to see its effects. It was a hooded cloak that looked like it was tailored for a full-grown adult, but I tried to wear it anyway.The size of the cloak suddenly adjusts itself as I put my arms through the sleeves. Is it just me, or does every magic equipment now have growth correction? I wish more of these things existed in my previous life, because there were several times where I was too small to properly wear some chestplates or my hands were too big to wear certain gloves.

Anyway, I equip the [Cape of Immolation], but nothing happens. I try inserting mana into the cape, nothing still happens. I check my skills list to see if anything's been added, but nothing appears. I was beginning to feel irritated, and decided to just burn the item. I didn't need something like this anyway. I throw it onto the ground and set fire to the cloak using a basic fire spell.

For some reason, the cloak doesn't burn to a crisp. Instead, the fire on the cape just burns continuously, and it doesn't seem like it'll go out. I realize something, and extinguish the fire immediately using water magic. I wear the cloak again, and just like before, set it on fire using magic. The entire cloak becomes engulfed in flames, but I didn't feel any heat being emitted from the cloak.

After testing it by increasing the temperature of the fire, nothing happens to the cloak as it continues to burn indefinitely, the fire changing color as the temperature rises. It reaches the point where the entire cloak is now completely engulfed in white fire, and the asphalt under me begins to melt under heat, but I keep it solidified using magic so it doesn't sink me like quicksand. When I try to extinguish the flames this time, it took a lot more effort due to the extreme temperature of the fire.

This thing was amazing, it can absorb fire to make the flames become stronger, and the user doesn't even feel the heat underneath the cloak. I'm sorry I tried to destroy you earlier, Mr. Cloak. You're very useful.

I put the cloak back into the spatial pocket after testing it thoroughly, and began to head home. My mana pool was nearly depleted from burning the cloak and extinguishing it, along with maintaining the asphalt. I barely have enough mana to set it on fire one more time, but I won't be able to extinguish it again. For now, I'll return home. I have school tomorrow, and I'm pretty tired from the events of today.