"You're incredible..."
I tugged down on the brim of my hat, my cheeks going red at her sudden words. I cleared my throat, trying to regain my composure. “A-are we going to delve deeper?” To that, Adeline pursed her lips, lost in thought for a moment before speaking up.
“Normally we would go further down. But the surprise challenge put us squarely outside of those norms. You, my friend, are extraordinarily injured.” She patted me lightly on the shoulder, smiling. “The best thing we can do is leave, after you’ve claimed your treasure. Besides, even if we only cleared the first floor, we’ve surely staved off the timer on the threshold for a little while.”
I nodded. “Alright. I just… Need to stand up..” Frankly, I wasn’t certain whether or not my legs could bear my weight. I certainly felt better than I had, but every part of my body still ached. More than anything, I felt weak. Part of that was my missing mana, of course, but I would assume that the beating I took had more to do with it.
Adeline quickly took notice of this. Rather than wait, she simply leaned down, scooping my arm over her shoulder and lifting me to my feet. It did nothing to stop my blushing, being leaned up against her. Well, perhaps the monster blood soaked into her shirt stopped it a little.
Slowly and carefully, Adeline led me to the loot chest. “I’m not sure if it’s wise to have you lean down for it. Maybe try giving it a little kick?” Slightly embarrassed at the idea, I tapped the chest with the front of my shoe, unwilling to commit to kicking the thing.
I was quite surprised to see the seam of the chest’s lid begin to glow slightly. With a click, it swung itself open, revealing the contents. My status window opened itself, giving me a list of the items I was rewarded.
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Reward Overview:
1. Mithril Ore, Chunk (3) [Pure]
2. Shadow Amethyst (1)
3. Ring of Moderate Agility (1)
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The list was short, but each item seemed immensely valuable, even to my untrained eye. “You really do have some great luck, outside of the minotaur thing.. Mithril, on your first dungeon clear?” Adeline looked down at the contents of the chest in something that might have been awe. “Oh, you’ve never claimed dungeon loot before, have you?”
She cocked her head to the side, eyes closed while she thought about her next words carefully. “It’s something like..” She stuck her hand out, pointing her palm at the chest. “But you need to do it with the intent to ‘claim’ it.” She squeezed down, as if grabbing something. “Almost like this?”
I furrowed my brow slightly, a little confused by her words. Still, I thought it best to just try. Repeating her actions, I reached my hand out towards the chest, squeezing on the air as if trying to ‘take’ the contents of the chest. With a small flash, the items within the chest disappeared, and a sack appeared in my closed hand. My arm dropped slightly from the sudden weight, but it was manageable. In fact, it was surprisingly light.
After taking the items, the chest snapped shut.
[All of the distributed loot has been claimed!]
With that, the chest very suddenly disappeared with a flash of light, leaving nothing behind to prove that it was ever even there.
“You got an accessory this time around, didn’t you? You should equip it before we leave. Oh!” She reached her hand out to hold the sack for me, with one of my hands occupied propping myself up on her shoulder. I gratefully handed it off to her. After a few moments fishing around, I retrieved the ring.
It felt odd, getting a piece of magical equipment. It was even more odd equipping the thing. Almost immediately after slipping the ring over my finger, I felt a wave of something run through my body. My joints felt more springy, my feet seemed lighter. I felt as if I could move much, much faster with it on.
I opened my status window to see the change it had made.
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Name: Sybil Sagecrest
Class: Apprentice
This story originates from a different website. Ensure the author gets the support they deserve by reading it there.
Level: 13 (53%)
Mana: (3/230)
Status Points:
* Strength: 6
* Agility: 10 (+3)
* Intellect: 23
* Resilience: 15
* Luck: 14
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It was granting me three additional points in agility? That was equivalent to 1 ½ levels for me. It was, overall, over a 30% increase. Adeline wasn’t lying, I had gotten very lucky.
Beyond where the chest was, there floated a swirling vortex of white energy occupying the majority of the hall’s width. It seemed to be moving and shimmering gently. Without a doubt, it was the exit portal. Or the way further down, if we had chosen that route.
Adeline stuck out her hand, the surface of the vortex rippling lightly as she made contact with it. She looked back at me, “Just do as I do, alright?” I nodded. She said, “Yes.” to nothing in particular, and then disappeared. I was slightly wobbly after suddenly losing her support, but it was much better than I expected. Perhaps the agility increase helped me?
I touched the exit portal, the same as Adeline, and my status window suddenly opened on its own.
[Exit dungeon?]
“Yes.”
A bright, white light overtook my vision, and then there was nothing.
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When I opened my eyes once more, I was standing outside of the dungeon entrance. Adeline was stretching her arms, seemingly nonchalant about having just cleared a dungeon. The stars were in the sky, enough time passing in the dungeon for the sun to have finished setting.
There were no guards or soldiers outside waiting for us. Just the open fields and the town off in the distance. Had it been foolish of me to expect a fight as soon as we left?
“We just have one more thing to do before we leave.” Adeline drew her sword from its scabbard, a small grin on her face. She swung it a few times, slicing deeply into the dirt in front of the dungeon gate. Three times at sharp, straight angles. Once, a short stab. And then, a smooth series of fluid curves.
Once she was done, I was able to see what she carved into the dirt. Two letters, etched rather deeply.
‘A.S’
“Nice, isn’t it?” She laughed, sheathing her sword. “Not that they’ll understand what some random initials mean.”
I blinked a few times at the letters. Adeline, Sybil. Like Adeline had said, though, it was unlikely that anyone would understand the meaning of them.
I looked back up at Adeline. “Where should we go next? I can’t imagine that it would be in our best interest to stay here for much longer..”
“You aren’t wrong there..” Adeline closed her eyes. “Hm.. If I’m being honest.. We should probably get ourselves some new equipment. And, I don’t mean to sound selfish or anything, but..” She laughed a little, gesturing towards herself. Or rather, what was missing from herself.
“My sword is starting to get chipped beyond repair, and going in without armor could be a death sentence in a harder dungeon. Not to mention if we get confronted again..”
Right. We weren’t guaranteed to be able to keep running forever. There may come a time where a fight would be inevitable.
“I don’t mean to say that you don’t need new equipment as well, though.. I mean.” She put a hand on the left sleeve of my robe. Or rather, where it had been. I tore the thing off to use its fabric for stuffing her arrow wounds. “I can’t imagine it’s comfortable wearing a tattered robe around.”
“W-well..”
“Ah, also.. Don’t mages usually have a staff? Or scepters?”
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“Master, why don’t you have a staff..? I thought all mages used one.”
“Hmm..” She looked over at me, sat upon a boulder as she idly read a book. “Staves are convenient, sure.. They have foci embedded within them that help you out with controlling the mana for your spells. But, well..”
She stood up, her black hair swishing slightly at her shoulders. The afternoon light caught it in a way that revealed a hidden complexity to the color, a tint of purple.
“Mages can become too reliant on them. When you become trained enough, your hands are a better tool for controlling mana.” She smiled. “After all, I’ve got 5 staves on this hand alone.”
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“I.. Just use my hands for casting.”
“Oh.” She seemed a bit intrigued by that, eyes perking up slightly. “Alright. But nonetheless, we should get you some new robes.”
Adeline smiled, putting a hand on her chest. “I know just where to go, at that. A place where we can acquire new equipment, without bringing down the hammer of the Crown upon our heads.”
“Really?”
“It’s just through Grymgate!”
My head dropped in defeat. She couldn’t possibly mean what I thought she had meant.