Everyone had some kind of injury, some more serious than others, and thankfully none that were fatal. Except perhaps for the blow young Connor took to the head.
That would usually be deadly, requiring a healing option, which for a rural boy on the edge of the kingdom would generally mean almost certain death. At least that was the case before the Trial appeared.
Now, as long as he drank a concentrated juice of red berries slightly fortified with Aether, he would be fine. The same went for young Mav and young Cali.
Seeing that they weren't in immediate danger, but still needed care, I decided to administer first aid myself. This was an essential skill on the battlefield, which ironically not everyone possessed.
It would have been easier for me to give them the red berry juice or a potion made for some order of mages, but I didn't have any, so I had to make do with regular bandages and poultices to stop the bleeding. Luckily, none of them needed stitches.
I lined up the three of them on the ground near a small hill and waited for help to carry them.
'Ah! I almost forgot about the weapons.'
They were lying around near them, at least the ones that hadn't been destroyed. Like their owners, the weapons weren't in the best condition.
Connor's bow had damage in several places, as well as scratches all over its length. As if he had been rolling around on the ground with it, and considering how dirty the young man was, I didn't doubt it.
The most precarious point was at one of the ends, with a gash that had almost hit the point where the string connected to the rest of the bow and went down to just before the middle of the bow. I'm not an archer and I've never felt the urge to be, but even an amateur archer can say it was a miracle the string didn't come loose during the fight.
Young Mavak's sword wasn't far behind; the blade had slashes in several places as well as cracks in various spots. I could see that she barely held onto those points, and I also noticed the amount of blood on the sword's pommel. It was as if Mavak had used the sword's hilt as a hammer.
'Well, there are some techniques where you use the pommel of the sword to strike the opponent's head, but at this level it's a bit excessive.'
The young Cali's weapon was beyond repair; I had briefly seen the two halves of the staff lying on the ground on the way here, and not far away the remains of Maxuel's large shield. He still had a smaller shield, slightly larger than a plate, still attached to his arm when we arrived without his short sword.
Unlike his brother's sword, the short sword of the young man who used shields didn't have many dents or cracks, although it did have some. And finally, the weapon with the least damage, just like its owner, the silver spear of young Anna.
Apart from the blade and some points on the handle, mainly at the back, the weapon had practically no damage. In short, the village blacksmith would have a lot of work with Mavak's sword, a little with Maxuel's short sword and shield, moderate work with Connor's bow, and very little work with Anna's spear.
'The state of the weapons reflects the state of their owners.'
A saying my teacher told me many years ago, I never thought I'd see it so literally as I do today.
Picking up the last weapon, I noticed a small red flash in the corner of my eye.
When I got closer, I realized I was holding a crystal similar to the return crystals that the creatures of the Trial sometimes left behind after being defeated, but with two differences. It was red and it was larger.
'I've seen some Aether crystals with different colors before reaching them, but none like this.'
I thought, approaching the crystal.
*******************
Kaio's POV
Eeeeeeeeeee after months, finally the first floor was conquered!!!!!
I feel like much more time has passed than it should have, but at least it's over.... For now.
'Do you think they'll go straight to the second floor after they rest?'
[Unlikely. They don't even know where the entrance is yet and they're exhausted. First they'll recover before trying to find it.]
'Hmm, you're right, but wouldn't there be even the slightest chance of us—'
[Negative.]
'I'm not even finished yet!!!'
[You wanted to use some of the accumulated raw energy (REnP) to heal or accelerate the healing of everyone still alive so they could go straight to the second floor, right?]
'....'
[The answer remains no]
'WHY???!!! We have a good amount of dungeon points and raw energy points thanks to them.'
Seriously, take a look.
[Name: Kaio
Race: Dungeon (Development)
Level: 2
DP: 1,405
REnP: 3,110
Floors: 2
Unique Monsters: 2
Total Area of Influence: 50 Acres (Floor 1), 100 Acres (Floor 2)
Experience Points: 2,305/5,000]
We gained a generous amount of experience and points during the hours they were here. We're almost halfway to unlocking the third floor; as soon as they start exploring the second floor and fight even just once as the boss there, and a few more times with Grumpy, the third floor will be unlocked.
'Although I'd prefer to do the stampede before that. What do we have left? Another week before the deadline?'
[Basically]
'Whoa, it's better to speed up the deadline a bit.' Ah, that reminds me, how are we going to deal with Grumpy now?
[What do you mean?]
'Let's face it, his personality doesn't deserve to be just the boss of the 1st floor, the boss that eventually everyone gets strong enough to use as just another slightly stronger MIB after reaching levels 30 or 50.'
[True.]
'Soooo, I was thinking if we couldn't use Grumpy's "soul" as the starting model for all the bosses.'
[... I don't recommend it]
'Huh?! Why not?'
[3 reasons:
1. The inconsistency this would generate among challengers. Even if they were different bodies, at the core it would still be Grumpy, and he would always have some kind of fighting style or tendency that would become repetitive. Over time, challengers would notice this, which would make the fights too easy. Even if it took time.]
[However, this would still eliminate the main reason for using Grumpy as a boss, which is for him to be the opponent who stimulates the challenger's development and provides the satisfaction of combat for the challenger himself.]
'...Okay, I understand.'
[😒, in short, even in different bodies, it's inevitable that Grumpy would eventually become predictable, and this predictability wouldn't stimulate new strategies from the challengers but would continue them to use a single strategy with few adjustments to the environment and the body Grumpy would use, but always the same. Do you understand?]
'Still a bit complicated, but I think I understand. And the other reasons?'
[2°. The wear and tear this would cause on Grumpy himself. Remember how you felt the first time you appeared as a memory core? Imagine this happening repeatedly with different bodies.]
[From those with similar shapes but each having some subtle differences (arm reach, decision-making capacity, possible disproportionate body shape etc), to others that are totally different. Going from a humanoid body to a quadruped, from a quadruped to a flying one, from flying to aquatic, etc. And going through the whole adaptation process from one to the other repeatedly.]
'Yeaaahhh, that would be irritating, to say the least. It wouldn't be like in a game where you feel like you're pressing a few more or fewer buttons; it would be you doing it yourself. And yes, I remember how strange the feeling of not having a body was. It's still strange even after months.'
[And 3°. Lack of personnel, using only Grumpy as a model you wouldn't leave room for new bosses to be discovered, sub-bosses and secret characters could cover that, but it still wouldn't be the same, besides leaving our space kind of... empty.]
Once again, despite Sys having no eyes, I was certain he was wet around the "room" where we were. A sterile, empty space, with nothing but a "smoky ghost," a translucent light-blue screen, a flask similar to Ming's style but which caused a feeling of unease and a certain revulsion just by being near it, and a greenish-white orb, Grumpy's "soul." Besides these four components, absolutely nothing.
'..... If it were like that, things would be really boring indeed. But even so, I don't think it's fair to make him go through several almost instantaneous deaths eventually after all the effort and determination he's shown so far.'
'Thank you for the compliment and concern, my master. I understand the need for an opponent and the unequivocal consequence of defeating one. I don't deny that the idea of being seen as a stumbling block, easily kicked away, pleases me, but this proves that my existence was once a threat they managed to overcome.'
'So there's no need to worry. Besides, whenever I'm defeated, I'll return here, won't I?'
The voice emanating from the green orb was strange, not like the guttural, hoarse voice he usually had, but a deep, calm voice, quite gentle even. With a philosophical and intellectual touch that you certainly wouldn't expect a goblin, or a hobgoblin, to have.
Of course, his soul wasn't that of a natural goblin, but still, that's not something you'd expect from a creature that had killed several humans. This only increased my sympathy for him, considering what he just said.
Seriously, how can something that can be considered an artificial spiritual construct have so much sense of purpose and duty?!
No, maybe it's precisely because he's a construct that he's like that? 🤔
Whatever the reason, it's a fact that using him as a punching bag, even if it didn't happen overnight, wasn't right and didn't make sense either!!! And it made me feel awful.
[... Well, it's not like there weren't alternatives.]