“I’m sorry?” Had I heard her right? There was no way she asked me to babysit a party of grown adventurers.

  “Watch over them. Help them. Train them.”

  “Yeah, I’m not a babysitter or a coach. I don’t teach people how to play the game. It’s something they gotta find out on their own.”

  “You want your reward, don’t you?”

  “You gave away all the good shit. The shit that was rightfully mine.”

  “They needed those powers more than you!”

  “Doesn’t matter! I deserved it!”

  “Wah wah wah.”

  “Hey! I am not a baby!”

  “Are you sure? Cause you’ve been crying about those abilities since they left.”

  “And rightfully so.” I crossed my arms with a huff.

  “Ugh,” the woman groaned. “If I give you something, will you shut up and do as I ask?”

  “Depends on the reward I receive. Asking me to babysit is tiresome work, you know.”

  “What if I granted you the power to use magic?”

  “mAgIc!” My voice cracked.

  “Indeed. I sense that you have little to no Mana, preventing you from casting even the simplest of spells.”

  “Y-Yeah. I thought Mana couldn’t be increased, though, and I’d be stuck without magic forever.”

  The woman walked up to me as she spoke. “Normally, it is impossible. However, this is different.”

  “Different?” I tilted my head.

  “You’re experienced. You even guessed I was the dungeon creator. Tell me what you think.”

  “What do I think…?” I trailed off into thought.

  Let’s use the little information I have. I knew she was the dungeon’s creator, and according to what she and Sabrina told me, the dungeons had never been cleared. That meant the dungeons had to have been around for a long time. If the dungeon wasn’t recently created, it meant she had made it long ago. She was an apparition, a left-over illusion of the actual dungeon creator. However, for an illusion, her dialogue options were advanced. That meant one of two things: She was an extremely powerful being when she was alive, or…she wasn’t an illusion.

  She seemed to focus on the hero and his party, blessing them all on their adventures. She was even asking me to watch over them now, meaning, to her, the hero and his party were important in some way or another.

  “Are you…a previous hero?” I asked. Her eyes widened.

  “I-How did you-“

  “So, you are,” I murmured. “That means you also created the other dungeons, and they’re all to test the hero and his party.”

  “Sort of,” she smiled. “I didn’t create the other dungeons. Just this one. The other heroes created the others.”

  Other heroes?

  “You aren’t an apparition, are you?” She smiled softly at my question.

  “How do you think I can increase your magic? If you guess right, I’ll do it. If it’s wrong, however, I’ll kick you out of the dungeon with no reward.”

  “wHaT!” She giggled at my voice crack. “Screw you,” I snorted. “But fine.” I crossed my arms.

  If I were to guess, and this is a far jump, seeing as how I’m basing it off anime…

  “Do you use the last of your magic to pass it on to me, destroying the dungeon in the process and making it so that it can never be entered again?” She blinked several times at me.

  “You’re creepy,” she grumbled as she touched her hand to my chest. “But you’re right.”

  “I am!” My eyes sparkled. “So then, I-“

  “That’s right,” she smiled as a warm sensation filled my body. “You’re getting a bump in your Mana. Plus,” she stepped on her tiptoes and brought her lips close to mine. “I’ll even give you a few starter spells.”

  “Aw, sick! You’re the be-HMPH!” I was silenced as her lips pressed against mine.

  Notice:

  Yue has kissed you. All stats increased by 200

  Notice:

  Yue has transferred the last of her Mana to you. Magic menu is now accessible.

  Notice:

  Yue has transferred the knowledge of four spells.

  Stolen novel; please report.

  Spells learned:

  Pyrokinesis, Ice Javelin, Water Whip, and Whirlwind

  Notice:

  You will now be transported out of the dungeon

  I was transported to the nearby forest, a ways away from the original entrance to the dungeon. I noticed when looking at my map that the dungeon symbol had vanished. It seemed the dungeon really had vanished after Yue transferred the last of her Mana to me.

  It was strange to say, but I still felt her presence. It probably had something to do with the Mana transfer, but I didn’t care too much about that. No. There was something else I was much more interested in. Something else that deserved my attention.

  “Magic! Magic! Magic!” I repeated manically after opening the magic menu. There were dozens of spells, but only three that weren’t greyed out. It seemed, however, that those spells had spells linked with them, branching out like a tree. That meant the spells could be upgraded, and in order to upgrade spells, like skills, they had to be used.

  What do I use first!? I thought to myself excitedly. Pyrokinesis allows me to create and manipulate fire. Ice Javelin creates a spear of ice that I can fire at my enemies. Water Whip allows me to create tendrils of water to grab my enemies, and Whirlwind creates a gust of wind that can stagger enemies. I wanted to use them all, but which one did I want to test first?

  The bushes shaking nearby caught my attention, and I immediately smiled like a madman as I realized I found my first practice target. Whether it was a goblin or a draconian, I didn’t care. I finally had magic!

  Before I could even step toward the shrub, a goblin leaped out. “Hehehe,” my hair covered my eyes as I chuckled softly. As I looked at the monster, my eyes glowed brightly, even in the light of day. For whatever reason, it froze in place. “Good,” my left hand caught fire as I stepped toward it and leaned over to be at eye level; my flame-engulfed hand raised between us. “You know your place.” The goblin stepped back only to trip on its own two feet. “Now,” I reached for its face. “Burn to nothing.” As I grabbed hold, the fire engulfed the goblin.

  Its screams of pain sounded like a symphony of music to my ears as the fire slowly peeled its skin away, followed by its bones, until not even ash was left.

  “Woah,” my eyes widened. “That’s a starter spell?” I looked at my hand, which was still burning. “Creepy.” I closed it into a fist, snuffing the flame out. “What about Ice Javelin?” A spear of ice spawned over my shoulder. “Hmm. Looks normal enough.” A rabbit jumped from the thicket, and I immediately fired the spear. It pierced the rabbit's flank before continuing its trajectory, piercing and destroying several dozen trees as it exited my site. “Er…” I scratched my cheek. “I hope that doesn’t hit somebody.” I smiled nervously. “Okay. So, what about Water Whip?” A ring of water circled my feet, and several tendrils rose. “Oh?” I smiled. “Hehe.” I began to drool. “I can think of so many uses for this.” The tendrils lost form and fell to the ground, seeping into the grass as I stopped the spell.

  It looked like things were finally looking up for me. I had magic now, which meant that I could still do some damage even without my cloak. Sure, my stats would lower once I removed the cloak, but magic was still magic, and fire burns and sharp objects still pierce their enemies. Magic was strong regardless of stats, to a degree, and with my recent two hundred increase with Yue’s kiss, I was stronger, if only a little.

  “Now let’s see about Whirl-“

  “It came from this direction!”

  Shit. I quickly put the mask back on as the Han and his party stepped through the shrubs.

  “You again!?” Han barked.

  “Are you stalking us?” Sora asked wierly.

  “He’s probably stalking you,” Han grumbled. “You did flirt with him pretty hard in that dungeon. Add a beautiful girl and an ugly bustard like him that’s never been hit on, and you’re bound to end up with a stalker.”

  “Do I detect a hint of jealousy?” Sora grinned.

  “No!”

  “You’re jealous he touched my ass, aren’t you?”

  “No, I’m not!”

  I really don’t want to deal with these three. I turned around. And I especially don’t want to see those two flirting. I was walking away when Yue’s voice reverberated in my head.

  “Train them.”

  Tsk. I about-faced back to them.

  “Huh?” Han scowled. “What? What are you looking at?”

  Not sure, but I’m pretty sure I saw you on Animal Planet.

  “Why do I feel like you just thought something smart?” Han gnarled his lip. I shrugged in response. “You must want a fight.” He grabbed his axe.

  “Han!” Rubellia stepped in front of him. “We can’t! You saw how strong he was. We can’t beat him.”

  “That was before we got our new abilities.” He shoved her aside.

  “Ky-“ her scream was stopped halfway through as I caught her.

  “So fast.” Sora gasped while I helped Rubellia balance herself.

  “Speed is for cowards who want to run away.” Han stepped forward.

  Speed? For cowards? Hehehe. A smile made its way across my lips.

  “What the-“ The trio took a step back.

  You really don’t know anything, do you? My eyes glowed, and the red eyes on the mask emitted a crimson glow.

  “Wh-What is this?” Rubellia cowered.

  “So much blood lust.” Sora gulped.

  But that’s okay. I took a step forward. That’s why I’m here. I took another step. I will show you… I kicked off the ground and appeared in the air behind Han. Just how important speed is!