Testing My Luck in the New World

My sword clattered to the ground when the beast it was plunged into disappeared in a great burst of light. I left it to fall and I ran to Yua's side as she tried to stand again.

"Are you okay?" I asked, grabbing her by the shoulders.

She looked briefly to where the Proud Great Wolf's body once lay, saw that the thing that nearly killed her was now nothing but air and then turned back to me. She nodded and smiled slightly.

"Thanks to you, Master."

Filled with relief, I hugged her and she let out a small yelp of surprise, but she did not push me away at all.

"I'm sorry I didn't act sooner. Because of that, you got hurt."

While I am loathed to admit it, after seeing how much damage her first strike caused the boss, I almost let myself become fully content with letting her live up to her own blustering and let her handle the fight on her own. Because of this, I was late to attack. And again, just like with the slime, I should have thought to use my magic from the start. After seeing how the flames blinded our foe, I could have made the fight so much easier for us both.

"Master... N-No. It wasn't your fault. Even after telling you not to get cocky, I let the advantage we gained at the start get to my head. I'm sorry for making you... worry?"

From within my arms, she turned an intensely confused and slightly meek look towards me, but I ignored it. She was safe again.

I sighed, my breath ruffling her hair as the relieving thought that I was holding her warm, still very alive body continued to ease the tension that kept me so stiff in that fight. I don't think my heart is going to be capable of handling this much worry for every fight we face going forward. We need to hurry and make as much coin as possible so we can be done with the dungeons for good.

I had no idea how Yua managed to handle that thing by herself when her level was even lower, but I really had no reason to believe she was lying. She handled the fight perfectly until that one slip up nearly cost her her life. In fact, as far as I know, slaves might be unable to lie to their masters. Maybe she really did just dodge and weave around it until she found a chance to strike at its hind legs. It was large and had more health than the other monsters, but its defenses clearly weren't unbreakable. Her method was entirely plausible.

Maybe it was my being there, attacking at the same time, that enraged it enough to go wild and become unpredictable. Whatever fight she might have prepared herself for just ended up being different due to a second party being there to help. She must have gone into this planning for a one-on-one fight, since it worked the last time she tried.

As I pressed my arms tighter around her by way of apology, a pop-up window appeared in front of my face.

[Boss of Amoranth Dungeon first floor, Proud Great Wolf, has been defeated. Experience gained: 1000]

No. It wasn't my existence in the fight that almost cost us. We just hadn't spent enough time together to really get in sync and fight as a single unit, rather than as two individuals. As far as I could tell, Yua only had experience fighting by herself and that was how she tackled this boss. Her confidence in her own abilities was abundantly obvious to me now, but since most of my abilities are a mystery to her, there was no way we could have coordinated properly on the spot.

I really need to test my abilities to their fullest so that I could at least know what I could and couldn't share with her.

"Um, Master... I think I can stand on my own now."