"...Eve and Syl'Vyr, get ready!!! This is a dungeon boss!" I tell the two of them. I think it's been about a week since we found that guy and I saved him. After that, we just kept descending, and now we're on the 45th floor.

Syl'Vyr didn't even need to fight; she'd just find enemies and we'd either avoid them, or Eve would step up to handle it—maybe wanting to show she didn't need Syl'Vyr—and she'd quickly finish off the monsters. We'd then store the materials in the storage ring.

But now, on the 45th floor, we've finally stopped at the boss area. I plan to just defeat this boss and get out of here. Honestly, we're already way ahead in terms of profit, and I want to leave before we run into any real trouble. Eve's sword isn't going to last much longer.

I hide behind a tree, observing a monster that looks like a black slime. It's big and seems more solid than liquid. Back when we first arrived at this dungeon, Eve probably would have had trouble with it.

But I think with her new electric plasma abilities, she should be able to hurt it. I watch carefully, seeing the slime just sitting there motionless in the center.

'It's a variant... but since it's a boss variant and it's black, it probably causes necrosis...' Fighting it without a healer would be dangerous, but we're all puppets. We can handle this.

I know its weaknesses thanks to the game. I think we can even win without it landing a single hit on any of us.

'Eve, advance from the right! And Syl'Vyr, use earth magic to raise the terrain and help Eve!!!' I give mental commands. Immediately, Eve lunges forward in a thrust that turns into a feint as the slime attacks with a sludge tentacle.

Syl'Vyr creates platforms for Eve while lifting the slime off the ground, and Eve brings her sword down in an overhead thrust with a jump, releasing those purple lightning bolts.

'Syl'Vyr, use water magic!!' I continue commanding from a safe distance so I don't get in the way, trying to lead to the best of my ability.

...

...

...

'Syl'Vyr, use water magic!!' I hear Evelyn-chan's voice in my mind. I quickly move the piece of wood with the attached core that Evelyn-chan made for me.

"Water Blade," I use the magic, launching a water spell. The water reacts with Eve's electricity, exploding into steam, which makes the black slime writhe violently.

'!!!' It launches its tentacles at me, but Eve appears in front of me, cutting the tentacles and defending me.

'Syl'Vyr, now use wind magic! And then make another water blade! Steam is useful against him!' Evelyn-chan quickly orders with the skill of a true strategist.

Eve charges at the slime, her movements agile and beautiful like a dance as she cuts apart all the tentacles of the black slime, the purple glow from her attacks leaving obvious trails.

"Typhoon!" I use wind magic, generating a small sideways tornado that hits the slime, making it less solid. Meanwhile, Eve attacks again, leaving that strange electricity at the point of contact.

"Water Vortex!" I use water magic, generating a larger amount. The contact creates another, even bigger steam explosion, but suddenly something grabs my leg. I see this black thing emerging from the ground.

"I-I'VE BEEN HIT!!" I warn them, seeing my ankle beginning to necrotize. I generate fire magic, exploding the steam cloud and forcing the slime to retreat while I pull my foot with all my might, bursting through the restraint.

'Syl'Vyr, the black slime doesn't move much while it's solidified! Use earth magic to trap it, then fill it with water! Eve will attack!' Evelyn-chan orders in my mind, and I obey despite the pain in my ankle.

"Subaquatic Cavern!" I use a combination of the two, locking the slime inside a chain of rocks filled with water. Eve quickly charges at the structure with a thrust, her sword emitting intense electricity.

She delivers the thrust, and immediately the whole structure explodes, surprising me with how hot Eve's electricity must be to turn all that water into steam.

I see the floor covered in this black goo and think that was actually pretty easy, but before I let my guard down, Evelyn-chan starts talking.

'Don't stop! Now that it's lost its solid form, it's going to attack like crazy! DEFEND YOURSELVES!!' She shouts at us, even though it's not necessary, but considering the urgency, I start generating a defense.

"Barrier..." Before I can finish, Eve runs to me, grabs me by the waist out of nowhere, and jumps off the ground. Immediately, black thorns shoot up from the entire floor. They would have turned me into Swiss cheese.

"Thanks, Eve! Not bad at all! For a brute of a girl, that is," I tease while moving my improvised staff.

"Storm of Wind," I generate a large downward gust of wind that shreds everything on the ground, clearing a space as we fall back to the floor. She lets me go, and I stumble, falling to the ground as I look at my messed-up ankle.

'Now that it's lost its solid form, use fire magic! Ice works too!' Evelyn-chan skillfully gives orders as if she knows exactly what to do, even if the orders aren't very precise. She needs to work on that.

"CryoBurn Explosion!" I freeze the entire floor, and immediately everything explodes into flames, generating multiple points of heat while Eve stands with her back to me, close by to avoid the damage.

'No!! Syl'Vyr, not like that!! Get away from there!!' Evelyn-chan says with urgency, and then Eve grabs me and hurls me upward, leaping to the side and dodging as a giant thorn almost touches me even though I'm nearly 10 meters off the ground.

'T-That was close.' I almost got hit. I don't even want to imagine the damage I would have taken.

Eve starts rapidly cutting the thorn, chopping it into countless small pieces, while I use wind magic to land gently, avoiding more damage to my leg.

"Laminated Bloom," I use ice magic again, instantly freezing all the sludge and turning it into an ice sculpture.

Using magic is strangely easy. If I want an effect, the incantation I should use just pops into my mind for me to recite and generate the effect, which is really useful. I guess that's what it means to have talent.

'Syl'Vyr, don't melt the ice! Just shatter it to kill the black slime!' Evelyn-chan says, knowing way too much about a monster we've never seen, but I obey her and start accumulating magic.

"..." A large sphere of flames generates in front of me, connected to the core in the staff, and soon I fire the fireball at the frozen black slime, shattering it.

The explosion completely shakes the nearby ground as a small crater forms, and I collapse to the ground, leaning on my staff so I don't fall apart.

'My leg...' If the slime had grabbed somewhere important, like my neck, I'd be completely done for.

"EVE, SHATTER THAT BALL!" This time Evelyn-chan shouts out loud, and Eve accelerates, rushing past me. I see her cutting a black ball that was on the ground; it seemed to be trying to gather the slime's material, which soon stops moving.

"Syl'Vyr, are you okay?" Evelyn-chan runs over to me quickly. It's kind of funny to see her so worried when this damage is nothing for a puppet like me. She immediately kneels down to look at my ankle.

"O-Oh m-my god... I-I'm sorry... I should have warned you... if I had told you what the slime does, you would have been more careful..." she says nervously, averting her gaze. Fortunately, the damage has stopped spreading.

"...It's fine, Evelyn-chan... it doesn't hurt... strangely, it really doesn't hurt. Probably any nerves died along with the tissues..." I say, seeing that the wound is disgusting and very dark.

The necrotized flesh with that strange substance and the blood really isn't a pleasant sight.

"I-I can fix this..." she says while I'm left admiring how she handled everything.

"Evelyn-chan, how did you know exactly what to do?"

"O-Oh... well... I just read a lot of monster books... Anyway, that was a slime with a necrosis variant. It's a 'weak' boss, but it causes this dangerous necrosis damage to the body on the slightest contact."

"It only works on living things... and causes damage over time," she says, taking some bandages from the ring and starting to wrap my leg. I look over at Eve, who is collecting the slime's materials—the core and some of the goo on the ground.

"Evelyn-chan, you led well. I was just careless... I probably need a lot of training. I should have sensed the attack... and I think it's okay. It's good that I took some damage so I realize I can't be arrogant," I say with a slight smile as she helps me up.

"Eve, let's camp right here. I know the adventure might not have seemed that fun since we fought, then strange things happened, and now we beat a boss without too many problems."

"But this is good! We got stronger! And now we have Syl'Vyr! And the core of a 45st-floor boss should fetch a good price! When we get to town, we'll buy some good food, get clothes and weapons for you two, and then we'll go to the bank."

"After all, we can't go around carrying too many gold coins all the time. And Syl'Vyr, to heal you, my vitality will probably handle it over time even if I don't try to fix you directly."

"So, do you want me to try to fix you, or just let my vitality restore you?" she asks as I think about it.

"You can leave it. I like that you bandaged it for me; I'll keep it like this," I say, holding her arm for support, ready for another fight despite the damage to my ankle.

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