With her feet kicked up in the air, Rin sat on a chair of ice. Sipping on her drink as she watched Alana berate Jamie with her voice.
“Why didn’t you read it!?”
“I’m sorry...”
As for Cole, who was munching on a biscuit, and Merial, who had a muffin between her fingers. They both stood right next to Rin and were also watching the woman’s breakdown.
The reason for the argument became apparent as Rin pieced together the topic from the few words that she had bothered paying attention to. Apparently, Jamie hadn’t read all the details for the dungeon’s commission and didn’t recognize that it was trapped.
Although to her it didn’t matter if they couldn’t get out through the entrance, all they had to do was defeat the boss, it was a simple process. But she sympathized with the healer as the party seemed to be a group of rather normal people. A dungeon such as this could spell the end of everything.
Leaning back in her chair, she took another sip from her drink and continued to watch the scene unfold with amusement in her eyes.
[Blacksmith – lvl 44]
[Healer – lvl 49]
[Fighter – lvl 40]
[Ranger – lvl 39]
Even without her, they could probably manage the dungeon on their own as long as they were cautious.
“There she goes again...” Merial muttered, facepalming.
“Again?” Rin asked.
“Yeah, she hasn’t been the same ever since a friend died,” Merial explained.
‘So, something did happen...’ Rin thought as her expression softened.
“Sorry,” Rin said quietly. “I didn’t know.”
The ranger simply shrugged, “That brat was just reckless, but the problem is that Alana keeps beating herself over what happened.”
Rin nodded in understanding, although she couldn’t quite relate to the feeling of losing someone close to her.
She tried to look back into her own past, but all she could see was bloodshed. It wasn’t that she didn’t care, it was just that she had never gotten the opportunity to grow close to anyone in the pursuit of absolute strength.
Something she could try to change with this second chance granted to her.
"Well, I suppose Jamie's had enough,” the elf prodded the girl’s shoulder. “Right?”
“Mhmm,” Rin hummed in response, releasing her aura that was keeping the party cool and comfortable.
And after just a few moments-
“Why’d you turn it off?!” The healer exclaimed red-faced and turned towards Rin.
But when Alana noticed the three other party members were looking directly at her with snacks and nourishment in hand. She quickly covered her mouth and coughed in embarrassment.
“You’re being a child,” Merial chastised, “Come on, let’s go.”
“Yeah, stop being such a kid,” Cole echoed.
Hearing the boy’s irony, Alana nearly choked on her tongue, but there was nothing she could say to refute the boy.
The healer then turned back towards Jamie looking for help. But after his reprimanding, the poor man couldn’t do anything but shrug.
“...Let’s just get this over with.”
In the end, the healer admitted that all they could do now was head into the dungeon, there was no turning back.
“There we go, that’s the attitude,” Merial smiled.
As for Rin, she quickly downed the remainder of her drink and ran up to join the party once she had heard that things were beginning to start.
“Alright, here’s the plan,” Jamie said, “We’ve got roughly two kilometres between us and the castle. Cole and I will take the front as the vanguard. Merial, you’ll be positioned on the right wing watching for anything that we missed. And as for Alana and Rin, you’ll be in the center support position.”
‘Not a bad tactic,’ Rin thought.
Being at the center was going to allow her to observe the party’s true capabilities. And it would also let her see the entire battlefield, ensuring that she would be able to accurately support the group.
As the party began to move forward on the bridge. Jamie and Cole took the lead with their armor equipped and weapons at hand. Merial settled to the right and kept a sharp eye out for any threats that may have slipped past. While Alana and Rin moved to the center to support the team whenever necessary.
Minutes passed as the only sound that could be heard was the shuffling of the party’s footsteps as they struggled to look through the sulphureous fumes in the air. The only consistent sight in view was the castle's outline towering above them from across the bridge.
‘Strange...’ Rin thought. The party must’ve been halfway across the bridge, but they hadn’t encountered anything so far.
Unfortunately, her thoughts were mistaken as the ranger screamed out a warning.
“Ash Elementals!!”
Fwoosh!!
Suddenly, a loud roaring blaze was heard before a bright flash of red filled the party’s vision.
A condensed ball of flame had broken through the cloud of smog at the front and was rapidly hurtling towards the center of the party.
Cole immediately brought out a shield from his inventory and dove towards the attack in an attempt to block it, but he was too slow.
“Noooo!” he yelled as the fireball screamed past him.
But it was no pressing matter. Rin stomped on the bridge with her right foot and conjured two layers of ice in front of herself and the healer.
Bang!!
A deafening explosion rang out into the dungeon as the attack collided with her ice. The shockwave, blowing back the clouds of smog.
However, immediately replacing the smog was the scalding steam produced by the elemental reaction.
Rin smiled to herself seeing that the attack hadn’t even pierced through the first wall. Meaning that her ice was now strong enough to the point where it wouldn’t be able to be shattered a regular level 40 creature.
“Are you okay?!” Alana asked worriedly.
Rin looked up to the woman and was about to respond before she saw that her hands were shaking.
‘And you’re asking me if I'm fine...’ she thought with a sigh.
“Yeah, I’m fine,” Rin said, “But we’ve got to help the others.”
“R-right,” Alana stuttered before hastily summoning a staff out of her inventory.
Looking forward, she could see that Jamie and Cole were on the defensive against the creatures. They weaved in a zig zag across the bridge, dodging the deadly amount of incendiary sent their way.
Meanwhile Merial had been supplying a barrage of arrows towards the creatures as supporting fire.
[Ash Elemental – lvl 40]
[Ash Elemental – lvl 42]
[Ash Elemental – lvl 41]
[Ash Elemental – lvl...]
Seven ghastly figures of ash about fifty meters up on the bridge stood before the party. Each of them had a blazing flame, licking around their ashen bodies which stood at a height of two metres.
But it was the searing white-hot core at the center of their torsos that drew the party’s attention.
“Aim for the center!!”
Merial shouted as she loosened an arrow from her longbow that flew straight and true, directly piercing into the white core of one of the elementals.
Almost as if it was in shock, the monster looked down at the arrow embedded in its chest before the blaze around its body started to intensify.
Boom!!
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Suddenly, a brilliant force emitted from the elemental as it burst into a vortex of flame. The blast was deafening, but the explosion also caused a crater to form in the stone. Causing a large section of the bridge to tumble down to the flowing magma down below.
“That was close.”
The ends of her hair were singed from the blast despite being at a safe distance. But she had no time to complain as another wave of attacks quickly hurtled towards them.
However, this time Rin was prepared and with the knowledge that her walls wouldn’t instantly break. She summoned her ice to intercept each and every one of the fireballs before they even got close to the party members.
Bang! Bang! Bang! B...
The explosions echoed into the air as the ground trembled beneath their feet. Spidering fractures in the stone appeared by the second as the bridge continuously weakened from the bombardment of flame.
“Left! Now!” Jamie suddenly yelled.
Heeding the man’s advice, the party sprinted towards the left side of the bridge just as a large section on the right side of the bridge crumbled and hurtled towards the searing lava below.
However, as the elementals had just released their attacks, the party knew that the creatures were going to be immobile for at least a few seconds.
Using the opportunity, Jamie dashed forward as his pole flashed in the air. Stabbing into the core of the second ashen elemental.
Simultaneously, Cole ran towards the third elemental with a massive hammer in his hands.
“Rin!” Cole the boy called.
“Got it,” Rin replied, understanding what the boy wanted as she summoned a ramp beneath his feet.
Her ice propelled him upwards into the soot filled air as he smashed his hammer downwards on top of the third elemental. Completely ignoring its weak point and instead disintegrating the creature, top to bottom.
As for the four remaining ash elementals, they weren’t an issue for the combined attacks of the ranger and ice mage who quickly finished them off with a set of arrows and daggers.
Even so, the party didn't have time to rest.
The explosion from the single elemental earlier was nothing to scoff at. And the mana pulsating around the fallen elementals was on a whole nother level. Just hearing the energy crackle sent a shiver down the party’s spines.
“Come on, let’s move!” Jamie shouted.
The party sprinted backwards, their feet pounding on the stone as they raced towards the exit. They only had a few seconds to create as much space as possible before the explosion would go off.
However, as they ran, Rin couldn’t prevent the frown from appearing on her face. For the first time in the dungeon, worry seeped into her mind as she felt the mana coalescing behind them.
It was like a storm brewing in the distance, continuing to rapidly grow in strength and would eventually consume the party.
“Damn it!”
Suddenly, she stopped running and turned around to face the threat as a torrent of ice erupted from her outstretched hand.
“Keep running!” she shouted towards the party.
“Rin!” a frantic voice screamed from behind her, but she paid it no mind. The six glowing bodies on the bridge would spell their fate if she didn’t do anything now.
With her attention fixed solely on the volatile corpses, she continued to expend her mana as the entire surface of the bridge froze over.
The ice continued to rush out of her body before ramping up to form the shape of a curved wall.
It was several inches thick. But was it enough?
Looking through the translucent structure, a grim look appeared on her face as she had nearly spent 75% of her total mana in a matter of seconds.
‘It’s not enough...’ Rin thought before a head of hair poked up from right beneath her eyes.
“I’ll protect you!”
It was Cole. He stood in between the wall of ice and the white-haired girl. Fully clad in a silver suit of armor with an enormous kite shaped shield positioned on the ground in front of him.
“Alright kid, let’s do this,” she said, solidifying her feet onto the ground and bracing for impact.
BOOOOOOOM!!!
An instant later, the mana in the air spiked as a blinding flash of white was emitted from ahead.
The explosion was beyond deafening as it shook the very dungeon itself. Gravel and pieces of volcanic rock fell from the ceiling while a fiery inferno formed by the blast surged across the bridge. Rushing towards the party before it was halted by the only thing in its path, Rin’s ice.
“Krrrrrrr...” Rin gritted her teeth and braced for impact just as the blaze slammed into the wall at full force.
FWOOOSH!!
The inferno clashed against the ice, causing a deafening roar and hissing steam to resound throughout the air as the two opposing elements fought for control.
The good thing was that large amounts of the firestorm were streamlined to the sides of the bridge because of the curved shape of the wall. But it also caused the cold sweat dripping down the girl’s back to instantly evaporate from the searing heat.
Rin quickly glanced down at the boy in front of her. She noted that he wasn’t in the best of conditions as he was breathing quite heavily, but she would have to rely on him; because in the center of the wall where the ice was taking the full force of the inferno, a small hole started to form.
“Cole, get ready,” she urgently warned, eyes fixed on the rapidly expanding hole.
Flames penetrated through the barrier, licking around the edges of the kite shield before lashing out towards the two of them.
“I got it!” Cole shouted over the crackling of flames.
He pressed the shield forward against the wall, trying to hold back the inferno, but it was too powerful.
“It won’t last long!” he screamed desperately.
Boom!!
Then without warning, a loud boom reverberated throughout the dungeon. The shield suddenly imploded inwards as a rush of heat were sent towards the two.
Cole ran up with his arms crossed in front of his chest and threw his body in front of the blast. For a couple seconds, the boy was able to contain the pressure, however the armor he wore began to glow red hot under the intense heat as pieces of liquidized metal dripped down to the stone below.
“Cole get out of there!” Rin’s shouted, but her voice was barely heard over the crackling of the flames.
“No! I won’t leave you!”
The boy refused to listen even as his armor was burnt off and his flesh left exposed. Grimacing through the pain, he activated a skill that caused his skin to harden before turning to stone. However, Rin knew that it wouldn’t be enough.
[Stone Skin – Earth Magic]
Her eyes hardened as she knew that it was a novice level skill and at the boy’s level of strength, he wouldn’t survive...
“You will leave me.”
Rin immediately knocked the boy unconscious with a hand to the back of his head before throwing his ragdoll body several meters behind her. But the lapse in her concentration gave the inferno the upper edge as Rin was forced to abandon the wall and create a smaller barrier in front of herself and Cole’s prone body.
Ssssssssss!
The first barrier melted away with a hiss as it no longer received the mana to keep its form and evaporated into steam. While the second new barrier repeatedly regenerated and melted against the onslaught of fire. It wouldn’t last long, but Rin knew that she had achieved her goal.
‘At least they’re safe,’ the thought surfaced from the chaos.
Taking a deep breath, she pulled up her status and quickly glanced at her remaining mana pool.
[MP: 727/17150]
‘That’s not good...’
Her lungs felt like they were burning from all the smoke running through her system, and much of her body already felt like it was shutting down from the scalding pain. At this rate, if the inferno didn’t die down in the next couple of seconds. She might even die.
Seconds passed, but the inferno had no signs of stopping.
[MP: 20/17150]
Seeing that her was about to hit rock bottom. She encased the vital parts of her body with ice and accepted the pain that was to come.
“This is going to fucking hur- eh?!”
Just as she let out a curse, she suddenly heard a set of hurried footsteps, and a wide-eyed look crossed her face.
[Intelligence UP]
[Wisdom UP]
‘A buff?’ she thought as a warm feeling enveloped her body. It was like as if a second pool of mana was opened up to her. Her eyes widened in shock as the foreign energy rushed into her body and immediately restored her depleted reserves.
Looking back, she saw the source of the pure and unbridled mana to be the brown-haired woman. The healer had her arm outstretched with a glow in her eyes, power billowing all around her.
‘Haha... A healer and an enchanter?’
Turning her attention back to the inferno, her blue eyes lit up with power as the mana within her surged beyond its limits. The power burned, the voracity of the energy seared her mana channels from within. Even to the point where she had to commit some power to prevent her body from overheating.
While the inferno, currently raging towards her was completely eclipsed by the girl’s ice until it was nothing more than a candlelight’s flame.
“Rin! Are you okay?!”
“Never better,” she smiled, feeling the effects of the buffs dissipate. “But Cole...”
A worried look replaced her smile as she turned to where Cole’s unmoving body lay. The upper half of his armor was completely melted away leaving the entirety of his chest exposed. However, his skin was completely replaced with blackened stone.
Alana quickly approached the unconscious boy and started to heal his wounds as Merial took in the sight.
“Cole...” the elf bit her lower lip, “I should’ve helped, but I just ran... just like last time...”
Rin shook her head with a sigh, “It isn’t always a bad thing to run. I even told you to.”
“But-”
“No buts,” Rin interrupted the ranger. “For now, we rest.”
“You’re right,” she sighed, “Thanks for saving us.”
The elf conceded and took one last look at the boy before sitting on a nearby piece of rubble. Rin did the same and gave the healer some space. While Jamie stood near Alana, watching as the healer tended to Cole's injuries.
For the first time since they had entered the dungeon, there was complete silence. The only sound was the occasional murmuring of the healer’s incantations as she toiled over the boy’s injuries.
Until finally Jamie broke the silence, seeing that Cole was in a stable condition and his breathing was regulated.
“Alana... why did you use it.”
Alana paused her work and looked up at the man with a soft smile, “I can’t keep hiding Jamie.”
‘Hmm...?’ Rin thought, the conversation piquing her curiosity.
“I’ve been cursed by this power. But what use is it if I don’t even use it. Knowing that there are others out there that I could save...”
The woman trailed off as she looked into the distance with a distant look in her eyes.
“But what about-” the man paused before looking at Rin, “What about them. What if they come after us... no- what if they come after you again?”
“It’s been 15 years,” she said with a bitter smile, “We’ll keep running.”
“We can’t keep running. If she tells anyone we’ll have nowhere else to go,” Jamie said as he again glanced towards Rin.
A flash of anger appeared in the healer’s eyes.
“That’s no way to speak about the person who just saved our lives,” Alana replied harshly.
However, Rin only found it amusing.
“He’s not wrong you know,” Rin flashed a dangerous smile, “There aren’t many enchantresses out there. This so-called group... you’re lucky~”
Alana winced, hearing the girl’s voice as she averted her eyes and looked at the ground.
“Haha...” Rin chuckled, “I’ll keep your secret, don’t worry.”
“Really?” Jamie demanded, “You won’t tell anyone?”
“Nope, I don’t like leaving debts unpaid. But I do want to know a little about whoever’s chasing you.”
Upon hearing her words, the man clenched his hands as Alana quickly noticed the change in his demeanor and placed a calming hand on his shoulder.
"It's okay, Jamie. We can trust her," she said softly.
The man relaxed slightly but he still looked uneasy.
"They are ruthless and powerful, holding not a single shred of mercy in their hearts. And they are also like the shadows. No one has ever seen any of them. And those that have-” the man paused, making direct eye contact with the girl, “Were never seen again.”
Rin raised an eyebrow, "So how did you escape from them if they were so strong?"
Jamie hesitated before responding, "...We had some help.”
‘They’re hiding something...’
Rin nodded, knowing that there was more to the story, but it seemed like she wouldn’t be able to get anymore from the man. Therefore, she shifted the subject towards something that they would be more comfortable around.
“Anyways, how’s Cole doing?” she asked as her gaze drifted to the boy’s chest which was wrapped in a white bandage.
She observed how it rose and fell along to his rhythmic beating, glad that Alana had brought him to a stable condition.
“He should fully recover in the next hour or two,” Alana surmised.
“All thanks to you,” Jamie added, “Who knows what would’ve happened if you didn’t get him out of the way.”
Rin shrugged, “I just did what I should. Having a kid die while protecting me isn’t on my bucket list.”
“Fair enough.”
The man replied with a chuckle before looking down the length of the bridge. The smoke in the air had cleared up with the extinguishing of the ash elementals. However, the explosion had split the bridge into two, leaving a massive gap between the two lengths.
“It’s only just started, but it feels like so much had happened,” Jamie sighed as Alana walked up next to him and comforted the man with a gentle stroke on his back.
“I know,” Alana whispered before casting her gaze on the white-haired girl, “But something tells me it’ll be just fine.”