Extra Pages: The Author's Odyssey

As the battle raged on, the cavern echoed with the clash of swords and the crackle of magic. Adrian's movements were a blur as he unleashed his full power, channeling the magic of a future Sword Saint to overcome his formidable opponent.

Finally, with one last powerful strike, Adrian delivered the finishing blow, his sword slicing through the air with unparalleled speed and precision. The Swordsman of Demolition's armor shattered under the force of the blow, and with a resounding crash, he fell to the ground defeated.

The cavern fell silent as Adrian stood victorious, his chest heaving with exertion but his spirit soaring with triumph. With the Swordsman of Demolition defeated, our mission in the hidden dungeon was complete.

"Breathing a sigh of relief, I lowered my bow and approached Adrian, a proud smile on my face.

"Well done, Adrian. You did it."

Adrian returned the smile, his eyes shining with pride and satisfaction.

"Thanks, Lucas. I couldn't have done it without your support."

Together, we stood amidst the aftermath of the battle, victorious against the formidable foe that had stood in our way. With the boss defeated, our journey through the hidden dungeon had come to an end.

"Now let's go back."

"Yeah, let's go."

Saying that I turned around and forze.

Why? Why now of the all time they have to be here?

"Who are you?"

A deep voice rang out.

I quickly turned around.

"...Shoot."

I bit my lips.

They were the two fallen human I saw before. One was holding a greatsword, and the other was holding a double-edged axe the size of his body.

How can they get here this quickly? They were other side of doungen when last time I saw them.

"Oy, we just asked who you were. How did you get in here?"

The axe-wielding baldy scowled intimidatingly, but the sword-wielding Caucasian man stopped him. He then spoke more politely.

"We just found this hidden doungen and we were checking inside of the doungen so later we could inform our guild."

Pretending to answer him, I stepped up and kicked the branch to the corner of the cave.

"...Ah, is that so? We didn't know. There was another pathway in here. That's where we came from."

"Another pathway?"

"Yes."

"...."

The Caucasian man's expression stiffened.

"What did you do here?"

"We hunted a monster."

"And the reward?"

"As you can see... nothing."

I raised my hands, smiling.

Then, the baldy next to him whispered. He pointed at Adrian.

"Wait, isn't that... Adrian? You know, the rank 1 cadet in Nova Academy?"

"...Hm."

The Caucasian man stopped and messaged his comrades.

"Yes, this is Paul. Yes, something came up. There are two Nova cadets here. One of them is...."

Before he could finish his sentence, a clear command rang out.

—Kill them and retrieve any valuable items they may have.

My heart sank as I heard the ominous order. It seemed that our encounter with these fallen humans was about to take a dangerous turn.

Adrian tensed beside me, his hand tightening on his sword as he prepared for the impending confrontation.

I glanced at him, exchanging a silent look of determination. We were outnumbered and outmatched, but we couldn't afford to back down now. Our only option was to fight.

As the fallen humans advanced towards us, their weapons at the ready, I braced myself for the coming battle. With Adrian by my side, I knew that we stood a chance against our opponents, no matter how formidable they may be.

"Stay close to me, Adrian," I whispered, my voice low but resolute.

Adrian nodded, his expression determined as he squared his shoulders and prepared to face our adversaries head-on.

"Blame your curiosity."

The moment the Caucasian man muttered, the surroundings changed. A tide of darkness shot up from the right side, engulfing everyone.

Adrian disappeared into the darkness, and I was left alone with the bald barbarian.

It was an isolation barrier.

"...Haha, big bro always leaves me with the boring work."

Boring work. He was obviously referring to me, but I couldn't refute him either.

"...Why is an [C-] rank Hero doing something like this to a cadet?"

Although I knew the answer, I asked anyway. The baldy smiled without replying. Unlike what his appearance might suggest, he didn't seem to be the talkative type.

The baldy collected his magic power silently. A powerful current of magic power rose up around his axe, heating up the space within the isolation barrier.

Sweat formed on the tip of my nose, and a cold sweat dripped down my back.

I couldn't win against that baldy. His axe could easily split my skull in half, and with the isolation barrier surrounding us, I had no way to run.

Facing the formidable opponent in front of me, I knew that I had to rely on more than just brute strength to survive this encounter. With quick thinking and strategic maneuvering, I might stand a chance against this powerful adversary.

As the bald barbarian prepared to attack, I focused my mind, searching for any possible weaknesses or vulnerabilities that I could exploit. My eyes scanned his movements, analyzing his stance and anticipating his next move.

After searching his body movements, I found nothing.

I couldn't find hole in his guard that i could use for my advantage.

'Looks like I have no choice.'

I took out Nightshadow bow from AI bracelet and an arrow that embude with low rank light magic spell.

After doing that I took a stance and aimed at the baldy before me.

At this moment baldy was also done prapering his attack.

He then looked at Nightshadow bow and grin

"That's some nice bow you get there, don't worry after you die I'll take care for you "

I didn't reply, I just pulled very hard and release the arrow.

SHAAAA——!

mana arrow he had conjured shot forward, hurtling toward baldy at breakneck speed.

The power of the mana arrow is ten times stronger than the normal one because of the Nightshadow bow.

The current power of the Mana arrow is [C] ranked at its best.

"Now try this!"

SHOOOW—!

Baldy swung his axe at the upcoming mana arrow as Axe slash clash with light magic mana arrow.

BOOM——!