Later, I decided to take on an exploration of ancient ruins as my first job with the three new adventurers who had joined our party.
Ancient civilization, said to have possessed a far superior magical civilization than what exists today.
Ancient ruins are structures from that era which have been excavated in modern times.
These ruins are highly dangerous, but if you’re lucky, you might find immense treasures that could let you live without working for the rest of your life. They are dungeons where one can strike it rich.
We managed to proceed with our exploration by defeating the magical beasts that attacked us and by skillfully avoiding dangerous traps.
However, during that adventure, I did not get a good impression of the priest and the mage.
Despite being armed with chainmail and a mace, the priest disliked fighting on the front lines, and his healing magic abilities were far from sufficient.
The mage would hold back his magic when it was needed, putting the party in danger, yet he would use his magic liberally only when his own life was at risk, and his skills were also below average.
I offered them some advice to at least improve their attitude, but they showed no intention of changing.
On the contrary, they scoffed and glared at me.
Frankly, I couldn’t trust either of them as comrades to have my back.
On the other hand, I had a good impression of the beast-kin girl, the thief.
She usually had a carefree personality and didn’t seem very serious, but when it came to her job as a thief, she performed her duties competently, reliably, and meticulously. Her attitude towards her role was flawless.
I trusted the work of the beast-kin girl, Miina—she resembled humans but had cat ears and a tail, making her part of the Cat-ear Tribe—and she seemed to trust me as well.
We had a bit of casual conversation along the way.
While I couldn’t trust the other two, I felt I could rely on this girl as a comrade.
Then, an incident occurred.
It happened when we were exploring the ruins and entered a certain room.
As we advanced into the middle of the room, the heavy iron door at the entrance suddenly closed on its own with a creaking sound.
Miina was the most flustered.
“Nya…!? —Damn it, a trap, nya!”
“What…!? What were you doing, Miina! Finding traps is your job! What do you think you’re here for!”
“I-I’m sorry, nya! But it’s impossible for even the most skilled thief to find all the traps in this ruin without a single mistake, nya! Some are bound to slip through, nya!”
“Excuses won’t be accepted! What are you going to do about this situation! You useless beast-kin!”
“Whoa, whoa, whoa, it looks like we don’t have time to argue…!”
I interrupted Miina and the priest’s argument and pointed forward.
Beyond the room where our retreat was cut off, a narrow passage continued.
In the darkness at the end of that passage, six eyes gleamed.
Soon, a large magical beast majestically emerged from the depths of the passage.
A monster with the heads of a lion, a goat, and a dragon simultaneously, possessing the forequarters of a lion, the hindquarters of a goat, and the wings of a dragon.
Seeing it, the priest and the mage became even more flustered.
“Wh-what… a C-Chimera!? That’s a B Rank monster! Even if we all teamed up, we wouldn’t stand a chance…!”
“No way! —Hey, beast-kin, how are you going to take responsibility!”
“That’s right, Miina! You should be responsible for this situation!”
“I-I can’t do anything even if you tell me, nya…!”
The priest and the mage continued to berate Miina.
Miina, feeling somewhat responsible, replied with a voice on the verge of tears.
Certainly, it was Miina, the thief,’s fault for falling into the trap, but there was no point in blaming her now.
I clicked my tongue, then took off my backpack, which contained all my gear, to lighten my load.
Then, gripping my axe, I assumed a stance to face the Chimera and gave instructions to my companions.
“I’ll hold the front line for a while! Miina, in the meantime, try to find a way to open the door! The other two, support me! We’ll get through this, even if it means using all your magic!”
“U-uh-huh! Got it, Douglas!”
Miina readily followed my instructions.
But—
“Hey, Douglas! Don’t just give orders on your own!”
“Th-that’s right! Ooh, I decide how I use my magic!”
The remaining two objected pointlessly.
Dammit, they’re like this even at a time like this…!
“Then come up with a better plan! If you have one!”
” “Hmph…!” ”
The priest and the mage fell silent at my words.
Really, I can’t help they lack skill, but at least do the common sense things, please.
But I didn’t have any more time to spare for them.
The magical beast, which had been slowly approaching from the depths of the room, finally charged towards us.
“—Grrrraaaaaaaah!”
“Tch…!”
I gripped my favorite battle axe and carefully watched the magical beast’s movements.
When the magical beast had approached to a certain extent—
—Goooooo!
One of its three heads, the dragon’s, unleashed a torrent of scorching flame.
“I kind of expected that…!”
To evade the flames hurtling towards me head-on, I leaped sideways with all the power in my legs.
However, it was not enough for a complete evasion.
The terrifying magical flames, which swept across like a caress, burned my left shoulder and arm.
“Guhhh…!”
The damage was immense, and my left arm went numb and unresponsive.
I didn’t even want to check the extent of the burns.
While I wasn’t completely incinerated, it was certainly not in good condition.
I switched from holding my battle axe with both hands to using only my right hand.
“We’ll be in trouble if you fall now! —Heal!”
The priest cast a healing spell on me.
I felt a slight sensation of my left side’s damage being healed.
It was far from enough to fully heal the burns I sustained, but I was grateful that he was at least doing his job.
“D-don’t come closer! —Firebolt!”
The mage also unleashed a fire spell.
A single bolt of flame struck the magical beast.
However, the flame was far from as powerful as the Chimera’s Fire Breath, and its power was greatly reduced by the beast’s aura of Fighting Spirit, so it seemed to have done little damage.
The magical beast showed no signs of being deterred.
It did not slow its charge and attacked.
“—Grraaaaah!”
“Damn it…!”
I leaped sideways again to avoid the large beast’s pouncing attack, and this time, I barely succeeded in evading it.
Well, actually, the claws of the beast’s forelimb had shallowly torn into my right calf, but it wasn’t a serious injury.
“You monster! —Take this!”
I forced myself to regain my posture and swung my battle axe with my right arm.
It struck the base between the dragon’s neck and the lion’s neck.
But—
“Damn it, this is hard…!”
I immediately pulled out my axe.
My right arm, which had swung the axe, was tingling.
The blade of the axe, which I had swung with all my might, had barely bitten into the Chimera’s body, not even by a finger’s width.
This was partly due to the defense of its hide, but the influence of its “Fighting Spirit” was the main factor.
Monsters with immense power are enveloped in a power called “Fighting Spirit,” which enhances their combat capabilities.
This power extends not only to defense but also to attack and agility.
Human warriors also wield Fighting Spirit, but for ordinary individuals like myself, the amount of Fighting Spirit contained within the body is extremely small, and my control over it is poor.
I certainly didn’t possess the level of Fighting Spirit needed to contend with a Chimera on equal footing.
Talented warriors are said to have exceptional potential reserves and skillful handling of this Fighting Spirit.
Only those who have mastered the use of Fighting Spirit can attain combat abilities that are beyond human.
No matter how much I trained, this ability did not improve much.
No matter how much I strengthened my body or gained experience, an ordinary person remained an ordinary person.
Therefore, an ordinary person can only do what an ordinary person can do—
“Gah…!”
The next moment, I was pinned down by the magical beast and forced to the ground.
In addition to not dealing as much damage as I expected with my axe strike, I was unable to cope when it leaped at me again with surprising agility.
“—Grroooaaaah! Guurrrraaaaaaah!”
“Damn it…! I won’t die so easily…!”
I used my right arm, axe, and legs as much as I could, trying to keep the three-headed magical beast that was attempting to bite me at bay.
If I let my guard down for even a moment, I would be torn apart by its jaws.
I desperately resisted, trying not to be killed by the magical beast.
—It was then.
“I-I found it, nya! If I do this—See, it opened, nya!”
Creeeeak…!
Following Miina’s cry of joy, came the sound of the room’s entrance door opening.
