Luck be Damned

28

^^ Mithril Dragon ^^

— Alice —

"A little warning next time you decide to throw a Tier Nine Hellfire Swarm at your own allies?!?" I snapped at the dragon, dragging the Wizard-girl out of the molten Mithril, once again. A veritable pool of it had bubbled up from the ground, as Zara's attack had liquified all of the other millipedes as well, before they'd had the chance to break the surface.

"I did Ward you all against the flames first. You're welcome." Zara smirked, not reflecting on her actions in the slightest, and snitched the pool of hot metal into my Pocket while humming to herself happily.

I sighed and inspected the last of the creatures, a horribly disfigured and half-melted centipede that was still trying, albeit pathetically, to bite me. The HUD-Tag over its head read 'Illusion Bug: 8', which I took to mean it was Level 8, an odd thought. "I though the monsters in a dungeon couldn't be stronger than the Tier of the Dungeon?" I asked Cala, thoroughly confused.

"They... can't?" She answered slowly.

"The loophole is likely because the dungeon Created these monsters, but summoned only monsters of Tier 6 and below." Thayma sighed, explaining her theory and stepping away from the half-dead creature.

I stomped on it, shattering its head, and hummed. "So... the dragon could be a higher level if it likes?"

"That seems the case, yes. It might be better for us to forfeit; if that Dragon Boss is level 16, we can't beat it. Bosses are always twice the highest level in the dungeon, and if it goes above 8 for the normal monsters..." She sighed.

"Forfeit, an amusing prospect, Zara sarcastically opines." Zara snapped at the Wizard, stomping past us and peering down the stairs. "Begone, Pesky Little Worms!" A rolling cloud of of plasma crackled, making the air smell of Ozone as it emerged from her jaws, and bathed the entire stairway with lightning.

"I agree, forfeiting here has no point, and invalidates our progress thus far; we will proceed with caution, and should you wish, I will teleport you to the exit, for you to retreat. That goes for you as well, Cala; I wouldn't dare force you to follow me into something you aren't comfortable with." I looked at both of them, waiting for their response while Zara spat smaller bolts of lightning at the few bugs that had survived.

"I'll stick with you, love, but if it starts to get too hairy, we should both leave; clearing the dungeon isn't a requisite for passing the exam, after all." Cala sighed.

"Wait... what?" I frowned.

Zara perked up as well, looking irritated. "WHAT?!?"

The Wizard and Cala both flinched at the Dragon's Roar, but Cala answered our question after a moment. "You didn't listen to Sir Adrian's speech... did you?"

"I confess that I did not." I replied honestly, unconcerned with my actions; his speech had been long-winded and dramatic, and I couldn't be blamed for thinking of other things.

"Okay, so, the requisites for success are challenging the dungeon and impressing the professors; considering there are several hundred students in the other dungeon, did you think that only the ones who killed the boss got to pass? It's a cumulative scoring system, based on several types of performance, from teamwork to fencing, magic, dungeon knowledge, and a few other criteria they said were not our concern for now, so I imagine they're something like Scholastic Integrity, where they want to see if we adhere to certain unspoken rules without being asked." She sighed.