My intention for our first real foray into the dungeon was simple: I was there to observe. I would only interfere if an issue arose that the girls truly could not handle. I knew that if I were to join the fight in earnest, with my current stats and high-tier jobs, Woya and Wyn wouldn't be able to keep up with me at all. My speed and power would end encounters before they even had a chance to draw their weapons. Fortunately, the slimes on the first floor provided a negligible threat, which was a significant contribution to their training. This allowed us to ascend the floors slowly, giving them ample time to get used to the visceral reality of fighting, both as a functioning team and as individuals finding their own rhythm.

  That was the environment in which Woya defeated her very first slime. Even though she was physically capable and equipped with gear far superior to what most novices possess, I insisted they fight in a strict group formation. Even against a lone slime, I wanted their cooperation to be instinctive. The slimes would lunge and bounce toward Woya, and she would brace herself, deflecting their gelatinous mass with her shield. Once the monster was off-balance, Wyn would step in to finish them. It usually took one or two strikes; despite her experience, even Wyn could occasionally miss the small, shifting core inside the translucent body.

  It was even harder for Woya when it was her turn to strike. She was not yet proficient enough to track and aim at a slime’s core with ease. Even though Wyn was the one who generally defeated our enemies, I made sure Woya tried to land the killing blow occasionally. She struggled to hit the core several times, her blade sliding harmlessly through the jelly-like substance, but through repetition, she eventually started to defeat the slimes on her own.

  Just like that, we gradually moved through the damp, torch-lit corridors toward the boss room. Whenever we encountered a slime, the routine was established: Woya would block and hold the line, and Wyn would quickly deal with it using one of her two iron swords. From time to time, Woya would be the one to land the killing strike as her confidence and accuracy improved.

  As we moved, I noticed that several other groups of adventurers were looking at us strangely. I didn't quite understand why at first. I initially thought they were staring at the sisters because they were the ones doing all the heavy lifting while I simply walked behind them. But then I noticed their eyes were fixed on me. I realized it was likely one of two things: either the strange rumors were circulating again—the ones about a "lunatic" who hunts alone even as deep as the twentieth floor—or it was simply the absurdity of my appearance. More precisely, my equipment. It was undeniably weird for someone to be draped in full steel plate armor and carrying a massive bastion sword on the very first floor of a dungeon, where the monsters could be defeated by a child with a sturdy stick.

  Despite the prying eyes and the whispered comments, we moved steadily forward and reached the boss room at the end of the level. There were five other groups already in line, waiting for their turn to enter the chamber. Based on my memory of this floor's boss, I calculated that the groups should finish in an average of five minutes each. We stood in the corridor, the air thick with the scent of mildew and the distant sounds of combat.

  “There is a boss monster inside,” I explained to the girls, keeping my voice low. “It is a bit larger, faster, and stronger than the slimes you have been killing for the last hour, but at its core, it is still just a slime. So, don’t worry. The only thing you have to pay attention to is that it has three cores instead of just one. It won’t die unless you break all of them. But since this is your first boss monster, I want you to use it as a training dummy.”

  “Yes, master,” they readily agreed, their voices hushed.

  They had not asked many questions since we left the house, and they had been even quieter since we stepped past the dungeon threshold. They were clearly treating this as enemy territory, acting with a level of caution that I found commendable. They were taking the situation seriously, which was exactly what I wanted.

  The line shortened quickly as the doors cycled open and shut. Finally, it was our turn. We stepped inside the large, square chamber, and the heavy doors groaned shut behind us. Almost immediately, the ambient mana began to coalesce in the center of the room, and the boss monster started to form into a massive, wobbling mound of translucent blue jelly.

  The girls immediately took their positions, their expressions tense. Even though I had assured them it would be an easy fight, this was still their first boss encounter, and the sheer size of the creature was intimidating. I smirked at them from my position by the door. They looked quite cute, visibly trying to calm their breathing and ready themselves for the fight. If we weren't in the middle of a dungeon about to face a monster, I likely would have stepped forward to pat their heads already.

  Once the boss monster was fully formed, Woya began her approach, her shield raised to chin level. Wyn moved in tandem, circling toward the side to find an opening. They fought the creature much like any other slime, though the scale was different. Wyn’s blades flashed, and she successfully broke one of the three cores while Woya held the creature’s attention, absorbing its heavy lunges. A few moments later, Wyn shattered the second core, leaving the monster with just one remaining.

  “Don’t break the last one,” I ordered. “Let it restore its cores and attack again. This time, Woya will be the one to break them.”

  They didn't respond with words, only with a sharp nod while keeping their eyes locked on the monster. This was also per my instructions: they were to never take their eyes off the enemy, regardless of the situation or who was speaking to them.

  We waited as the boss slime pulsed and shimmered. Within a few dozen seconds, it had successfully regenerated its lost cores. As it lunged forward again, Woya stepped in. She was more aggressive this time, using her sword to shatter two of the cores in succession. We waited for the restoration process again. We repeated this cycle three times for Wyn and three times for Woya, ensuring they both got a feel for the rhythm of the boss's movements and the resistance of its cores.

  The narrative has been stolen; if detected on Amazon, report the infringement.

  When Woya broke the two cores for the final time, and it remained with just one unbroken core, I moved. I appeared in front of Woya in a blur of motion, reaching out to catch the last unbroken core of the boss monster with my bare hand.

  “Good job, girls. You have done well,” I said, the core pulsing weakly within my grasp.

  I lightly clenched my hand, and the last core was smashed into dust even as the monster struggled to restore its other broken parts. With all its cores gone, the massive slime began to disintegrate into light. It vanished, leaving behind ten copper coins on the stone floor.

  Woya moved forward to collect the coins, placing them in the pouch at her waist just as she had done with the loot from the regular slimes. As the coins were stowed, the room itself began to shimmer, the boss chamber starting to disintegrate to reset for the next group. The girls turned back to me, their eyes wide, waiting for my next command.

  “You see, when you defeat a boss monster, it drops ten times the coins as the regular monsters of the same floor,” I explained with a smile. “And once the battle is over, the room begins to reset. So, let’s move on to the second floor.”

  I had purposely chosen to land the finishing blow on the boss monster because my own skills allowed me to multiply the experience we gained. While it wasn't particularly important for my own growth—since the monster's level was low and my jobs were already too high-tier to be significantly affected—it was a good habit to maintain.

  We passed through the door at the back of the chamber and arrived on the second floor. On this level, the environment changed slightly, and the monsters were different. Here, they would be fighting against Giant Centipedes. These are not particularly difficult opponents, but I found myself feeling a bit hesitant. I worried that the girls might find them repulsive or be afraid simply because they were large, chittering bugs.

  But contrary to my concerns, they were not embarrassed or frightened at all. They continued to work together with remarkable efficiency. Since the centipedes were relatively slow, the strategy was simple: Woya would use her shield to impede their movement and keep them stationary. Then, Wyn would hack into their thick shells with a series of precise attacks until the creature was finished.

  Wyn was gracious enough to let Woya deliver the finishing blow several times, allowing her sister to gain the lion's share of the experience. Their teamwork became more fluid with every encounter. After a short while, I didn't have to manage their movements or give orders at all. The once shy and inexperienced Woya was now confidently slashing and blocking, her movements becoming more sure-footed with every monster they put down.

  We moved forward repeatedly, eliminating every centipede that crossed our path, until we finally reached the boss room on the second floor. After waiting for four groups in front of us to finish their attempts, we finally stepped inside to face the floor boss.

  It was exactly as I remembered it from my own first runs. The boss was a centipede with a significantly larger body and much thicker, darker shells than the regular ones. It eyed the girls as they entered, its mandibles clacking together as it viewed them as nothing more than prey.

  Despite the boss being considerably stronger than the common centipedes, the girls managed to defeat it rather quickly. They employed the same strategy as before: Woya held it back, bracing her shield against its lunges, while Wyn worked to cut its shell open from the side. The fight only took a bit longer due to the density of the boss's armor. As the creature reached the brink of death, I stepped in once again to deliver the final blow, ending its suffering and maximizing the party's gains.

  Woya collected the thirty copper coins that dropped from the boss, and I took a moment to collect my thoughts so I could provide them with useful feedback.

  “Okay, girls. This is it for today,” I said, looking at them with a satisfied smile. “You did well enough at the start, but you’ve really started to impress me with how quickly you’ve adjusted to the combat and how well your teamwork is developing. You should both be proud of yourselves.”

  “Thank you, master,” they replied, bowing elegantly. They both looked genuinely pleased by the praise.

  It was still only noon when we emerged from the dungeon. The sun was high, and I found that the exercise had made me quite hungry. We decided to do some light shopping in the dungeon district before heading back home. As we walked, I asked the girls for their honest opinion on the experience.

  “Thanks to the master’s grace, we didn't face any real issues,” Wyn said thoughtfully. “The training we did at the house was helpful, but I have to say... I felt like I was a bit stronger and faster than I normally am.”

  Since she was the more experienced of the two, it was natural for her to notice the discrepancy in her own performance.

  “That’s because we were at the same party,” I explained, trying to keep the mechanics as simple as possible. “As I told you before, jobs provide buffs to your physical and mental attributes when you equip them, and those buffs grow stronger as you gain experience. When you are part of a party, every member receives exactly 1/10 of the buffs from everyone else’s jobs.”

  “So... you also received some buffs from our jobs, master?” Woya asked, her head tilting in curiosity.

  “Yes,” I answered. “But since it is only a tenth of the total, and because your current jobs are not high-tier and your levels are still low, the effect on me is quite small. But don't let that discourage you. As you continue to accompany me, you’ll find yourselves getting much stronger in a very short amount of time.”

  I noticed their faces drop slightly when I mentioned that their jobs weren't particularly special, so I made sure to add that last bit of motivation.

  “...But, master,” Wyn said, her brow furrowing as she did the mental math. “Does that mean we became this much stronger just because we were at a party with you? If 1/10 of your power makes us feel like this... You must be incredibly strong, master.”

  “...Huh?”

  Wyn’s mood had improved, but she had quickly realized the implication of my explanation. Woya was now looking at me with a similarly perplexed, wide-eyed expression.

  “...Yes,” I answered, choosing to avoid the full truth for the time being. “I can’t tell you exactly what my job is yet—perhaps in the future—but just know that it is a bit special, and I have quite a bit of experience with it.”

  They looked amazed, their respect for me seemingly reaching new heights, but I didn't want them to pursue the matter any further today. I fully intended to tell them the truth eventually, especially since they were already showing so much affection and loyalty, but for now, I changed the topic to our plans for dinner.

  [Edited]