Chapter 209: Falkgen (1/2)

”Are you alright?” Arthur asked Jonah, whose gait had been wobbly since he had blown off the Ropeser. The end-result was alright, but the method was questionable. Furthermore, he felt no mana from the weak-looking man.

”Yes, just a bit of mana deprivation.”

”From that single attack?”

”It's a skill, Boss. You can't judge me for that.” Jonah protested and all Arthur could do was nod. His eyes sharpened as he felt Jonah misstep a place and the trap got activated.

Without a pause, Arthur pulled him down as he raised his hand. The arrows that were fired from the walls made clinking sounds as they were deflected off his barrier.

”Holy Sweet Alera,” Jonah muttered in fear as he nodded at Arthur gratefully. ”Thank you, Boss.”

”Don't mention it. Can you walk?”

”Yes, yes.” Jonah rose hurriedly. ”What is this place?” He asked as he looked around cautiously.

”I don't know, but it's filled with runic traps. The amount that we have dodged easily exceeds a hundred.” Arthur shrugged.

”A… hundred?” Jonah gulped with fear. ”Maybe we should go back?” His voice was trembling.

”I told you that you can stay if you want to.” Arthur frowned. ”It was you who decided to stay, saying that it's alright even if you die.”

”T-that was a figure of speech.” Jonah raffled his hair as he sighed.

”As long as I'm here, the traps aren't an issue. Follow my lead if you want. If you still want to go back, I'll lead you until the door.”

Seeing that Arthur was still being considerate to him, Jonah coughed in embarrassment. He then shook his head and slapped his cheeks.

”I'm sorry, let's keep going.”

Arthur nodded in approval and kept leading the way. It was a few minutes later that they arrived at a locked door. On the door, nine squares glowed with bright light. In a three-by-three arrangement, the columns had the number 15 at each end.

”Oh, I know this one. Our math teacher taught us that in high school.” Jonah said to Arthur's confusion. He then saw Jonah walk toward the door and start writing numbers. 9, 5, 1. Then he saw Jonah try to write the other numbers in a way that every column totaled fifteen while not using a number twice.

”Is it a riddle?” Arthur muttered. Given that he had skipped most of his high school and the last of his middle-school, there were a lot of things he didn't know. Things like math and history were a complete mystery to him.

”Yes, it's easy! Oh, I fucked up.” The moment Jonah's sentence ended; the whole structure began to shake as a door opened in the ceiling.

Issuing a low screech, a monster fell from the ceiling toward the two. Arthur pulled Jonah's collar and the two rolled away as the monster that was a humanoid falcon landed in the place they were standing at. Its talons dug through the brick ground as it glared at the two intruders.

”Jonah, if you do anything again, I'll kill you myself. Now get the hell up.” Arthur said through gritted teeth as he looked at the monster.

It was a middle-high-tier monster like the Undead Juan. However, this one was a flying monster called the Falkgen. Its ability to fly would be troublesome.

”I had nothing to do with it, Boss!” Jonah said in protestation but Arthur ignored him. The monster was glaring at them with its large yellow eyes waiting for an opening.

As the tension rose, Arthur realized that he can't kill this monster unless he showed a part of his strength. With that in mind, Arthur picked up Jonah as he began running away.

”Wait- Wait! Boss! What are you doing! I can run on my own!” Jonah wiggled on Arthur's shoulder and Arthur had the mind to knock him out.

If not for the fact that he didn't wish to be discovered by Jerano, he would have killed the monster using everything he had. This way, he can level up.

Arthur turned toward the monster and used his Restrain rune. The monster struggled for a few moments giving Arthur a good lead before it broke the restrain using wind magic.

Using the runes for protection, Arthur began escaping from the Falkgen. The monster flapped its wings and began its pursuit after the two.

As he was running, Arthur heard a sniffing. He frowned and turned to Jonah who was quieter than earlier.