I continued down the sewer tunnel, heading down in the direction the hellhounds and the giant rats came from. I wasn’t worried about what lay ahead of me. Defeating a dozen hellhounds had been pretty easy. Especially with the brand new Skills I had gained from my Rank Up.

  All it took was a few dozen [Arrows Of Light] alongside a [Greater Holy Fireball], and I had wiped out all the lesser demons that had attacked us in just over a minute. The upgrade my [Domain Of Light] got was useful too, functioning as a barrier while being capable of doing what it did before… but better.

  Of course, as a barrier, it was pretty weak. It cracked from a single strike from a hellhound. Even if it didn’t shatter, it was not exactly a proper Gold Rank barrier magic. But that was not what it was meant to be.

  And while I couldn’t exactly create a powerful barrier spell— at least, not with light magic— if the situation ever arose, I could have just protected myself with my now-upgraded [Aura Armor Of Light And Retribution] while simultaneously using my [Shield Of Holy Fire].

  Now I didn’t exactly have a lot of experience when it came to using my brand new Skills. But I had practiced with them a little bit. And the amount I had practiced was evidently more than enough to deal with a few lesser demons.

  After all, I just needed to know what exactly the limits and applications of each Skill were— then drawing from my plethora of battle experiences, I would be able to immediately use them in a real fight, just like I did earlier.

  Which was why I wasn’t worried in that battle against the hellhounds. Because I knew that my [Arrows Of Light] could have dealt with them all, despite it being one of my weaker Skills. In fact, I doubted that I would even need to use my new strongest light magic Skill— [Lance Of The Divine]— throughout this entire assignment

  Anyway, since I knew this assignment would be relatively easy while giving me some experience, I just pressed on. But I didn’t exactly know where I was going— or if there was even anything waiting for me down this path. But I didn’t want to squander this opportunity to gain a few levels without arousing too much suspicion by returning to fetch Myrla and Kelton.

  So I pressed on, despite Sonia and Cecil’s protests.

  I thought that they would stay behind. Or rather, I hoped that they wouldn’t follow me.

  Unfortunately, I heard a set of footfalls trailing after me, quickly catching up. I turned around as I faced both the black-haired girl and the elf.

  “So you guys decided to follow, huh?” I said, raising a brow back at them.

  “Of course,” Cecil said, shaking his head. “We’re a team— we can’t just leave you to do this on your own.”

  “That’s right, we’re coming with you— but once we find these hellhounds’ nests, we’re heading back out and getting Myrla and Kelton,” Sonia added.

  I mean, I would’ve preferred to be left alone… I thought, before just smiling back at them and saying, “Well, that’s good. I don’t actually have anything with me I could use to mark the path.”

  Well, I could have just used magic— but even with my [Advanced Light Magic Conjuration], I still couldn’t create real weapons out of light magic yet. At least, not outside of my [Domain Of Light].

  The only other alternative was sending an [Arrow Of Light] out every few minutes or so to scratch the walls of the sewers.

  But both options were more hassle than they were worth.

  That was why I was, to a small extent, grateful that Sonia and Cecil followed along. Now, if only I had a way to keep them from involving themselves too heavily from my upcoming battles against any lesser demons I found.

  Both the elf and the black-haired girl didn’t say much, they just followed along as we made our way down the passageway. Since the sewers were basically a labyrinth, the path forked out into many different side corridors.

  But fortunately for us, there was a trail of dead giant rats for us to follow. Those hellhounds had to have been hunting them across the sewers for a while, which was probably how they amounted to such a large swarm by the time we came across them.

  We found nothing but dead giant rats for about five minutes, before we turned a corner and came across a pair of hellhounds standing there. They hadn’t even noticed us. They almost seemed like they were fighting with each other over which one got to finish off an injured giant rat that was cowering behind them.

  The moment we saw them, Sonia and Cecil both stepped forward.

  “I’ve got—”

  “Leave this to—”

  They both started. But I didn’t wait to let them even take a step forward, instantly raising my hand and conjuring a dozen [Arrows Of Light]. The projectiles shot out right as the hellhounds blinked and looked up.

  The first hellhound was instantly skewered, while the second managed to leap back and dodge a handful of the [Arrows Of Light]. But it didn’t matter, since I had unleashed a rather large volley of the projectiles. And a moment after, the second hellhound was turned into a pincushion as well.

  Both hellhounds dropped dead as I turned to my two companions.

  “Sorry, what were you guys saying?” I asked, tilting my head innocently.

  They hesitated, before averting their gazes.

  This narrative has been unlawfully taken from Royal Road. If you see it on Amazon, please report it.

  “It’s nothing,” they said at the same time.

  Of course, I wasn’t clueless. I knew that they had been just about to attack the hellhounds— but that was exactly why I was quick to react. I wasn’t going to let them steal my experience from me.

  So I just smiled and stepped forward as I nodded at my two companions. “Alright, shall we continue?”

  And we pressed onward.

  ***

  As we continued down the sewers, following the trail of dead giant rats, we eventually ran into more and more hellhounds. Whether it was a stray hellhound or a handful of them, it didn’t matter. I did the exact same thing each time I saw them— reacting before my companions could even contribute to the fight.

  It was not like they didn’t try to do something. At one point, Cecil managed to get close to a hellhound before I managed to impale it with my [Arrows Of Light]. But after that, I realized I needed to end these fights sooner.

  So I just blasted all the hellhounds I saw later on with a [Greater Holy Fireball], ending the battle before they even started.

  Of course, hellhounds weren’t the only types of lesser demons we ran into— we came across a few vesperiths, which were winged bat-like demons that were twice the size of an ordinary bat with large claws that could rip through steel.

  These lesser demons were probably what the nearby slum dwellers spotted coming out of the sewers at night. But they were extremely weak.

  They were probably between Bronze Rank… some even being Iron Rank in strength.

  So they didn’t offer me that much experience either. And that was why, even after another hour or so passed, I still didn’t level up.

  *ding!*

  You have slain a [Lesser Demon] - Experience is awarded for killing an enemy!

  *ding!*

  You have slain a [Lesser Demon] - Experience is awarded for killing an enemy!

  …

  It was unfortunate, but it was pretty much what I expected. I didn’t think I would gain that many levels from this trip— but the fact that I even leveled up once already was good enough. I just hoped I at least got another level before this assignment was over.

  Anyway, we continued further down the sewers in a slightly uncomfortable silence— I knew why neither Sonia nor Cecil were saying anything. They were probably frustrated with me for hogging all the kills for myself. But they didn’t want to say anything.

  And I wasn’t going to say anything either, continuing to pretend to be clueless.

  Mostly because it was less awkward and easier this way.

  Besides, having already killed… thirty or so lesser demons, between the hellhounds and the versperiths, we were pretty much already done with this assignment. We just had to hunt down just over twice as many demonspawns, and then we could leave. Which was supposed to be the easier task, since demonspawns were weak— ranging from being an Unrank threat to an Iron Rank threat.

  Unfortunately for us, we hadn’t seen a single demonspawn so far.

  At least, until we came to the end of the trail of the dead giant rats.

  “So this is where the path ends, huh?” I said as I placed my hands on my hips.

  The sewers split into an intersection that spread out in every direction, but the last dead giant rat simply laid at my feet. There was nowhere else for us to go, unless we chose to split up and investigate each corridor.

  “What do we do now?” I asked, turning back to my companions. “Should we just get out of here? Maybe Natalia will let us make up for the lack of our demonspawn kills with all the lesser demons we killed…”

  It was an idle thought— but it made sense. If an A was fifteen lesser demons and forty demonspawns exterminated, wouldn’t thirty dead lesser demons be worth an even higher grade?

  After all, lesser demons were generally significantly stronger than demonspawns, which usually stuck together and relied on their numbers to bring down even an ordinary adult human.

  While I didn’t get the second level up I wanted, I also didn’t really care too much about killing a handful of demonspawns— that certainly wouldn’t have been enough for me to level up from. It would just be a waste of my time.

  But for whatever reason, Sonia and Cecil were against this idea.

  “No, our assignment requires us to hunt down forty demonspawn.” The black-haired girl shook her head. “Instructor Seb would never accept this, you know what he’s like.”

  “That’s right, we should continue— perhaps if we search the area we’d find some clues,” the elf added.

  “I guess…” I scratched the back of my head as I trailed off.

  Before I paused, spotting something from the corner of my eyes. It was a glint— a purple glow that came from further down the left corridor. Sonia and Cecil spotted it too. The three of us glanced down the tunnel and saw it.

  It was… a glowing orb.

  “What is that?” Sonia asked with narrowed eyes.

  Cecil’s brows snapped together as he stepped forward, drawing a dagger from his side. “That’s an imp— a type of demonspawn.”

  He raised his dagger, about to throw it as he continued.

  “I’ve got this—” he started.

  But I cut him off, raising a hand to stop him.

  “No,” I said, shaking my head as the imp began to drift away further down the corridor. “Don’t kill it. Let’s follow it instead.”

  “That’s…” the elf hesitated, glancing between me and the imp as it turned the corner.

  “It’s probably going to run back to its lair. If we follow it, we can finish this assignment quickly and easily, right?” I said, nodding between Sonia and Cecil.

  Taking in a deep breath, the elf relented. The three of us then headed down the same corridor, turning the corner. When we got there, we still saw the imp there, flitting forward like dust being blown by the wind.

  It was slow. Of course it was— it was one of the weakest types of demonspawns.

  But it was definitely trying to flee from us, despite how slow it was.

  So it took a while, but we just continued to follow the imp, until we eventually came across a hole in the side of the sewer wall. Evidently, it was not a man-made hole, nor was it natural. The wall looked like it had recently been smashed open. And it was definitely not the kind of hole that could be dug out by a few demonspawns.

  The three of us peered into the hole which expanded into a rather large room. There was no need for me to illuminate the inside though, since it was brightly lit from all the colorful orbs of light hovering inside.

  “That’s a lot of imps,” Cecil whistled, sweeping his gaze around the room.

  But then he froze when he saw what was lying at the very back of the room. I raised a brow too, and Sonia stepped back, recognizing it immediately.

  It was a giant monster— one made of flesh and bone. It looked like a wolf if it was deformed.

  “That’s… a mawdrith,” the black-haired girl whispered.

  And the mawdrith raised its head as it took notice of us standing by the entrance to the room.

  “A greater demon,” I added, before my lips curled up to a smile. “And a Platinum Rank threat.”