A very well-dressed man walked through the portal. He was wearing what looked like leather armor, but it was obviously styled and magical. A faint light came off of markings on the armor, and he had a sheathed weapon at his side. The armor was a dark shade of green, but he saw that it was turning a light brown. It was changing to blend in with the surroundings, though Mash didn’t think it would help the man very much around other people.
The first thing that popped into Mash’s mind when he saw his face was that the man was handsome. Beyond even what he might expect to see on a showman, the man had black hair that was combed back and tried into a small ponytail. He had dark brown eyes, that radiated a boundless curiosity. They were darting around wildly, before settling on Mash and the wyvern corpse resting behind him. The imitations of Priscilla had started eating it, but he had them avoid the scales. Wyvern scales were considered treasures, and he wasn’t going to be that wasteful. Even with the stats he had gained, he couldn’t really fight against the man and struggled to come up with what to say.
“Are you okay?”
The man’s voice was only a little deeper than Mash’s and was a little nasally too. Mash was stunned for a second trying to process what the man had asked.
“What?”
Mash’s reply came out of confusion. He was completely unprepared to hear concern from a random stranger. Subconsciously, he had been preparing for a fight, looking for an opportunity to kill the man quickly. A shiver ran through his spine as he realized how cold he was, to plan something like that without even flinching. The man in front of Mash shook his head and replied again.
“Sorry about that. I’m Daniel, and you’re covered in blood, which I’m hoping belonged to that thing. Here you can use this to heal.”
The man, Daniel, tossed a small ball at him. Mash easily caught it, as the toss had been gentle. It felt somewhat soft, and he stared at it for a second unsure of what he was looking at. Although his attention was drawn back to Daniel as Mash realized that the language, he was speaking was something unrecognizable. Another world then, well that would help explain the kindness.
“Uhm, I don’t know how to use this. Also, I’m Mash.”
The other man looked at him strangely, and Mash was distinctly aware of the fact that he was almost completely naked. If not for the copious amounts of blood, he would probably be embarrassed. He was also glad that a man walked through the portal. Mash didn’t trust the man enough to access his storage space though. It had tempted the last people he had met to attack him, and he wasn’t ready to deal with another opponent.
“It’s a pill. You…”
His words trailed off, as Mash popped the ball in his mouth and swallowed. It was big for a pill, but he could swallow it. Plus, there wasn’t any risk of harm thanks to his skill.
“You can eat it normally. Or just swallow it all at once. I guess that works too.”
Daniel sounded a little impressed, as the pill was probably larger than most people could swallow. Mash didn’t pay much attention to that, as he felt his energy refilling quickly. His injuries were closing even faster than if his inhuman hibernation, and he couldn’t help but grin a little.
“Well, thanks for that. Are you going to try and kill me?”
Mash was grateful for the healing item and doubted that Daniel would try anything after having given it to him, but Mash still felt the need to ask. He didn’t fancy the idea of beating around the bush and also felt like he owed Daniel an honest confrontation if that was what he wanted. Honestly, Mash wouldn’t kill the man regardless of his response. Mash could just end the fight and send him on his way.
“What? No, why would I do that? I follow a virtuous path. I was hoping for some magical beast bodies…”
Daniel was eyeing the half-eaten wyvern, and the snakes still eating it slowly. Mash stopped the snakes letting them return to him as bracelets. A virtuous path was an interesting choice for someone hunting monsters, but Mash didn’t push him for more. Though, that probably meant that Daniel was a good person. Virtuous was another word for good and righteous, and Daniel had given him medicine for free.
“You're free to anything here, though I want the wyvern’s scales.”
Mash spoke pointing to the wyvern corpse behind him. There were plenty of other monster bodies still lying around, plus Mash didn’t need to be so worried about attack anymore. The medicine was far better for his energy than injuries, and he was able to fight again. With that confidence, Mash opened his storage space and pulled out his clothes.
“What is that?”
Daniel spoke before moving, but he appeared beside Mash in an instant. He was fast, easily faster than Mash was without his forms and buffs. He looked at the space, and Mash prepared for a fight. This was the most recognizably valuable item he had. It might have been in poor taste, but he revealed the item to test the man. However, the man looked a little bored when he realized what it was.
“Why don’t you just have a special ring? You can just grab the items you want rather than needing to do all this.”
He made a gesture of flicking his hand in the air before a piece of dried meat appeared in it. He took a bite, but Mash wasn’t feeling very hungry. It might have been the pill or the wyvern eye, but something had filled his usually limitless appetite. The question though, told Mash that Daniel didn’t understand what was happening.
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“I’m from a different world. We don’t have pills or special rings. Well, we have pills but they’re not the same.”
The pills Mash knew of were small and usually made by drying medicinal paste into a hard rock-like substance. Then a person would just swallow it, and they were usually not meant for healing either. In their world, something like that was meant for nutrition or diets. He didn’t bring any of that up though, as Daniel was obviously struggling to process the casual comment.
“Wait, you’re from another world? How does that even work?”
The man obviously thought that Mash was crazy, that much was evident from his incredulous tone. That made Mash want to laugh. Daniel’s worlds probably just started getting dungeons for them to be lacking so much information. Mash’s laugh quickly died as he realized what that would mean for them. His world was at risk now, and the portals appearing probably meant that they would be invaded. Judging that it was important information to share, Mash started telling Daniel about what he knew. He could return and try and warn his people.
Mash felt like the situation was urgent, but Daniel took his time collecting the bodies. He didn’t put them all in his storage space and descaled the wyvern while they spoke. Mash felt it was a little rude but guessed that Daniel’s people just cared more for efficiency. Well, Mash was somewhat like that too, but he still looked at people while they spoke to him. Most of the time at least.
“We talked about why I’m here, but what about you? Are you one of those conquerors you mentioned?”
Daniel kept working and was now dragging all of the bodies into a pile. While he was doing that, Mash made some of the wooden imitations of Priscilla to help him gather the corpses. Mash was a little startled when he heard the question. Daniel had kept silent for most of the explanation, and he looked like he was paying little attention to the conversation in general. He seemed far more interested in the dead bodies.
“No, I’m trying to advance and need to clear this test to get it. I’ve been in this arena for hours killing monsters. I even let some go back thinking that was the solution. Any ideas? I’m not exactly the best at this kind of stuff.”
Mash waved his hands toward the pile of monster corpses, indicating that he was much more familiar with that kind of work. Daniel wasn’t looking, Mash slowly dropped his hands as he noticed. Something more interesting caught his attention though.
Daniel pulled something from his ring. It was a cauldron, like what some used to make potions. Mash wasn’t prepared for a white fire to spread from Daniel’s palms and spread to the monster corpses. They didn’t burn but melted into a strange mixture. The smell was awful, and Mash gagged in repulsion. The monsters’ entire bodies were melted, and the smell of burning fur and feathers floated in the confined space. Unable to contain his disgust, Mash practically vomited his words out.
“What are you doing? Can’t you do that anywhere else?”
Daniel turned to Mash for the first time, as if only just remembering that he was there. He looked completely stupefied and spoke quickly.
“Right. Monsters bleed their essence rapidly when placed into storage devices. So, I have to refine them here. You get used to the smell.”
Mash definitely did not want to get used to the smell. It was vile. He was curious to see what he meant by refining. Wasn’t that something people said when making weapons? What kind of weapons did someone make by melting down dead bodies? Mash reconsidered what a so-called “virtuous path” might entail. He watched as the bodies turned into a liquid, the white flames seeming to coat the result. Then it flowed into the cauldron before the flames solidified into a solid lid for the object. More flames came from Daniel’s palms and swarmed around the now sealed cauldron. After that, Daniel turned to face Mash once again. This time he actually looked at Mash.
“Are you done with that?”
Mash’s question was obvious, but he wanted to know what Daniel was doing. His phrasing was a stupid joke, but it got a small smile out of the somewhat rigid man.
“No, but it will take about an hour to get done. As for your test, did you try and leave through one of the portals that opened?”
The sudden change of topic surprised Mash for a second. Then he considered what Daniel was actually implying. It was certainly something he hadn’t tested, but he had never heard of a dungeon like that before. However, he knew very little about the trials people took at level 100. They tended to be personal stories that were rarely shared with others. He considered it before responding.
“Nah, I think that would only result in my failure.”
“Well, what’s the worst that could happen from you failing? I would like to ask you to come with me and share your information with my masters.”
Daniel was quick with his response. Exploring the other man’s words was definitely interesting but hearing him talk casually about having a master was surprising. Apparently, he was a slave. Maybe, Mash should offer him a ticket to a new life.
“What about the other way around? If you come to my world, I’m pretty certain your masters won’t be able to follow you.”
“No, how could I abandon my masters. Didn’t you just say that there was going to be an invasion of my world?”
Again, with a quick response, Daniel almost sounded offended this time. Mash almost said something inappropriate but managed to hold his tongue. He had to remember that other worlds would have completely different customs. Daniel probably didn’t even know what it was like to be free. That thought sickened Mash. The knowledge that someone kind like Daniel was a slave felt wrong. Then Mash realized that there were probably a few easier ways to help the man. Mash could just buy him from his so-called masters. That, or he could kill them and attempt to fundamentally change how their world worked. He hoped the former would work, as the latter sounded like it would take a while. Plus, it would probably involve a lot of killing.
“Sorry, I didn’t mean to offend you. But sure, I’ll come to your world. This test has been getting pretty boring anyways.”
That was the true reason. Exploring another world and gaining some more powers from there sounded far more enjoyable than clearing this test. He could just take another test if he really wanted to. Mark this one as a failure and try again. Most people take this approach and try and find a dungeon well suited for them. Honestly, Mash thought that he was pretty lucky when he realized it was combat-oriented. However, the constant waiting was getting boring and Mash realized how the dungeon had been changing. Not all of the monsters were stronger, but they were always increasingly more intelligent, more human. If the final part of his dungeon just had him kill another human, then he wouldn’t have bothered entering one in the first place. He could have just hunted a level 100 criminal if he really wanted to. With his mind made up, he stood to follow Daniel, who remained seated.
“We still need to wait for that to be done. Why don’t you tell me about your world while we wait? I doubt that I will be able to visit your world anytime soon.”