“Well that was easy.” [Ryner]
Ryner said to himself as he made his way out of the ruin. Having already registered at a terminal, the creatures that were automatically created to defend the interior no longer attacked him. So, he basically ran through each floor without interruption and retrieved his Heaven’s Blade. Looking at the weapon that he hadn’t bothered to collect until now, it was a dusty and broken dagger. The dark blue grip had a curved guard protecting the fingers. The worn out blade was double-edged and looked more greyish black than steel white, having collected dust and rust for so long. Half of it was missing and a bunch of cracks ran along the ancient steel. The pommel had a smaller blade attached to it, about half of its size. It too was full of cracks and chinks.
Thinking that it would be a pain to fix it, Ryner stored it in his pocket dimension and ran back the way he came from. The area was basically just stone everywhere. It was a monotonous view on an open field, which was perfect for a group battle. In fact, many of the creatures were just standing around on one side, as if waiting for the opposing team to come through the entrance. Originally called war puppets, they were now known as ruin dwellers by the world.
Ryner ran through the crowd of humanoid monsters that possessed chalk white skin and black tattoos running all over their naked body. When he did, they automatically moved out of the way for him. The war puppets looked like hairless, muscular men, but they lacked sexual organs, their red eyes were utterly hollow and their height reached two meters. Being in the middle of this crowd of killing machines was intimidating and terrifying, but their creator breezed through it in a straight line and without stopping.
Upon his approach, every war puppet got out of his way, leaving his path unhindered. Their obedient behavior was a huge contrast compared to the first two times he had ventured inside the ruins. that would make anyone who saw it widen their eyes in shock. After all, ruin dwellers were mysterious monsters that only ever attacked any intruder on sight. Then again, they would already be dumbfounded at the fact that he had reached the thirteenth floor by himself.
Ignoring all war puppets, Ryner dashed out of each floor, running past the humanoid monsters, the purple yetis and the yellow lizards as each teleportation circle took him closer to the surface. Eventually, after sprinting nonstop, his view opened up and the blue sky could be seen once again as he exited the ruin and returned to the forest. Looking back, he could see that the entrance was a squared building made of stone. The walls were covered with green moss and vines, but weren’t eroded by time.
“Welcome back, Ryner.” [Rosaminta]
A melodious voice that was sweet like warm honey greeted him. Turning his gaze, he could see a woman with light green skin and long, wavy hair approaching him. With each step, she undulated her hips, walking unashamedly despite being clad in only underwear made of leaves and vines.
“The green sexy lady.” [Ryner]
“Please call me Rosaminta.” [Rosaminta]
Ryner’s light greeting, or rather, rude remark, was pleasantly rebuffed by Rosaminta’s teasing smile and polite request.
“The heck are you doing here?” [Ryner]
“The elves begged me to keep an eye on you. Although you’re allowed to go in the Forbidden Tomb without escorts, they still don’t really want to leave you alone.” [Rosaminta]
“Sooo, why didn’t you enter the ruin with me, but waited out here.” [Ryner]
“Because like them, I don’t want to enter that place either.” [Rosaminta]
Rosaminta, standing next to Ryner, looked at the squared building with the large entrance. The stairs leading down to the teleportation circle greeted her eyes. At that moment, the earth began to quake, but neither of them paid it much attention, nor did they lose their balance.
“To the elves, this is both an ominous place and an object of respect. They worship it.” [Rosaminta]
“You know, that’s kind of weird considering how the rest of the world seems hell-bent on looting these things for treasure.” [Ryner]
“That’s because they can’t feel it on their skin or in their hearts. These ruins were left behind by our maker.” [Rosaminta]
“You mean the gods? I think they know. Not sure if they can feel it.” [Ryner]
Rosaminta shook her head. Her expression suddenly became solemn and she earnestly gazed at Ryner. Her usual, teasing charm was gone. Coincidentally, the earthquake stopped and for a moment, silence returned until she spoke again.
“Have you heard of the Tree of Life?” [Rosaminta]
“The what now?” [Ryner]
Ryner asked while tilting his head. Seeing his puzzled appearance, the serious air around Rosaminta receded.
“… It’s nothing. Just my favorite tree.” [Rosaminta]
She closed her eyes, chuckled and told him to forget about it since humans probably wouldn’t understand their beliefs. The two then walked together peacefully. The verdant forest was calm and no creature showed up to bare their fangs. Then again, if they did, they’d be turned to paste by the sleepy-looking human and the guardian of the forest. Not to mention that the other residents were either magically-gifted elves or bloodthirsty amazons.
“How was last night’s festival?” [Rosaminta]
“Not bad, I guess. Itham wondered where you were.” [Ryner]
“I had to recover after that little prank I pulled on you.” [Rosaminta]
“Prank? You mean when you yelped and ran after touching me with your vine?” [Ryner]
“Yes, that.” [Rosaminta]
“What’d you do, anyway?” [Ryner]
“Fufu, that’s a secret~.” [Rosaminta]
As the two made some small talk, they ran into someone.
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“Ah. Ryner. Gatekeeper.” [Meirith]
It was Meirith who had a basket hanging on her arm and was crouching on the ground. When she spotted the two, she got up and greeted them.
“My, my, my. Meirith, my child, what are you doing here? Did that father of yours ask you to follow Ryner?” [Rosaminta]
“No. Picking, um, kam, ka… Turtle! Turtleshroom!” [Meirith]
The beautiful elf shook her head and, after finally recalling the term in the humankin language, she stepped to the side and pointed to the ground. There was a bit of pride and joy in her face as she showed the two what she was doing. Slowly walking forward was a purple-shelled turtle. There was green moss growing on its back as well as several purple mushrooms. Gazing into Meirith’s basket, one could see that it contained a couple of these fungi.
“… You were picking mushrooms off a turtle’s back.” [Ryner]
“Yes.” [Meirith]
“… Too tame.” [Ryner]
Not understanding why Ryner seemed a bit let down, the elven girl could do nothing but gaze at him quizzically. Watching the flustered Meirith and the sighing Ryner, Rosaminta giggled amusedly once before making an outrageous request.
“Meirith, could you take Ryner to my ‘little guests’ for me?” [Rosaminta]
She spoke it in the elven language. As such, the human was wondering what she was saying. But, the daughter of the High Elder, knowing who she was referring to, opened her eyes wide, bewildered.
“Is that alright?” [Meirith]
She questioned the Gatekeeper in her mother tongue.
“It’s fine. Ryner won’t hurt them and some want to meet him. You understand that better than me, right?” [Rosaminta]
“The Council of Elders, my father, we’d need their permission-.” [Meirith]
“I already talked about it with them. They said yes.” [Rosaminta]
“Ah… No one could refuse you.” [Meirith]
She nodded helplessly in understanding.
“Oh? Oh, oh, oh. Are you suggesting, by any chance, that I’m scary?” [Rosaminta]
Rosaminta walked up to Meirith and asked her gently.
“N-no! Never! Absolutely not!” [Meirith]
Towards that powerful and revered being, whose face was inches apart from hers, the High Elder’s daughter felt a chill travel down her spine as she hurriedly shook her head.
“Really? That’s too bad. I was just thinking of giving you that punishment I promised.” [Rosaminta]
“I’m sorry for leaving without permission! I won’t misuse your gift again!” [Meirith]
The Gatekeeper’s smile, sometimes gentle, sometimes flirty, was really scary.
The two, who had more or less come to an agreement, then moved their gaze to the human who was being obediently quiet.
“Hey, it tastes like chicken.” [Ryner]
They found him crouching and picking turtleshrooms. It turned out that he was more interested in eating mushrooms off the turtle’s back than their conversation.
For the moment, Rosaminta managed to convince Meirith to guide Ryner and managed to convince Ryner to follow Meirith. As they headed off to their next destination, the light green skinned-woman gazed at the human’s figure.
“What a strange man…” [Rosaminta]
She muttered to herself and raised her right hand to her face. A vine emerged from her elbow and wrapped around her forearm all the way to the tip of her index finger. As she looked at the snake-like vine, she remembered the time when she had touched Ryner with it. In truth, what she had called a prank was actually her snacking on his energy. It wasn’t much and, as proof, he didn’t feel anything, but she did indeed eat his energy using her vine.
That was the type of creature Rosaminta was. That was why Itham had asked her not to eat Ryner because she could feed on people until they died. In fact, she had already done so many times. However, though feeding on someone’s energy was pleasant and filling, she had never reacted excessively.
At least, not like she did with Ryner.
“(Ryner’s energy… Was reaaally goood~.)” [Rosaminta]
Rosaminta had eaten countless men in the past, both figuratively and literally, but it was the first time that she had felt like that.
The yelped she let out and the way she fled was embarrassing, but it couldn’t be helped. That little bit of energy that she took with her vine was simply delicious. It surged through her body like a huge wave without warning, overpowering her senses. Moreover, not only was it the most sumptuous thing she ever got to absorb, it also felt strangely familiar, nostalgic. Ryner’s energy was delectable, comfortable and made her lose control. If she took more, she had no idea what would happen to her. Her desire to find out was stronger than she thought, which was made apparent when she was near him. That was why, to avoid losing control and harming a guest, Rosaminta had asked Meirith to take on the role of guide.
“(If only I could wrap him in my vines…)” [Rosaminta]
She thought to herself as she put the tip of her index finger in her mouth along with the vine. Her wistful gaze was glued to Ryner’s back, reluctant to see him go. Her cheeks were faintly red. There was both yearning and hunger in her eyes.
“(Maybe I should ask him to let me eat him later.)” [Rosaminta]
Although the Gatekeeper looked like a half-naked, light green-skinned woman, she wasn’t human at all. Not one bit.
----------------------------------------
“Where’s my dog?” [Ryner]
“Um, at home. It’s okay.” [Meirith]
“Who’s watching over her if you’re here?” [Ryner]
“Ninith. One of, seven Travelers. You saved before.” [Meirith]
Left alone, Ryner and Meirith walked deep into the forest. It would appear that Rosaminta wanted to take Ryner somewhere and forced the job on Meirith. As to where, he didn’t know, nor did he bother asking earlier since he was busy munching on turtleshrooms. As a side note, Mi was stuck in the High Elder’s exclusive tree since her owner didn’t want to take her to the ruin with him.
“By the way, where are we going?” [Ryner]
“… Secret place.” [Meirith]
“That sure tells me a lot.” [Ryner]
“It’s, secret, like Forbidden Tomb. But, for others. Friends.” [Meirith]
“… Yeah, I still don’t know what it is besides it’s a secret place. Learn some grammar.” [Ryner]
“H-humankin language is hard!” [Meirith]
As they walked together, with Meirith trying to strike up a conversation every now and then, they eventually arrived at a large boulder that was three meter tall. While Ryner was wondering if there was anything special about it, his elven guide walked up to it and knocked its hard surface four times. After waiting for a minute, the earth rumbled and the boulder began to roll backward. As a result, a solid door of metal was made visible.
“So it was hiding a secret entrance.” [Ryner]
Ryner commented when he saw what was underneath the boulder, but didn’t really seem surprised. His eyes were still half-closed and full of languidness. However, they did open slightly more than usual when the door was flung open and a man’s upper body appeared.
“YOU’RE ACTUALLY HERE, HUMAN! HUH, WAIT, MISSY’S HERE TOO!?” [Man]
Shouting in an unknown language was the first thing he did when he saw the human and elf combo. Climbing out of the hole, the man was of short stature and wore a thick grey t-shirt and black pants as well as a pair of brown gloves and boots. His dark brown hair was cut short, but his huge beard was grown until it covered his whole chest. Moreover, despite his size, his body was burly and filled with powerful muscles.
“MISSY, WASN’T THE GATEKEEPER SUPPOSED TO LEAD THE HUMAN HERE?!” [Man]
For some reason, the short man kept shouting in his deep, rough voice. Meirith laughed bitterly before answering him in the same language that he was speaking.
“The Gatekeeper asked me to.” [Meirith]
“WHAT THE HELL!? IF MISSY’S AROUND, THEN IT’S HARD FOR US TO DRINK TILL WE DROP! GOTTA LOOK RESPECTABLE!” [Man]
“It’s not even noon and you’re drinking.” [Meirith]
“BY THE WAY, WE’RE OUT OF THAT PINK, HUMAN BOOZE, SO PLEASE BUY US SOME MORE!” [Man]
“Of course you are…” [Meirith]
Standing on the side, Ryner watched the conversation between Meirith and the short, but burly man. More specifically, he stared at the bearded person that looked human. However, he had seen his kind many times thanks to his travels between worlds. There were sometimes differences and variations. Still, Ryner could intuitively tell by experience that the man was not of the same race, not to mention that there should be no human in this forest.
“… There’s a dwarf here.” [Ryner]
He muttered out loud his discovery and nodded to himself.
“HUH?! WHAT’D YOU SAY?!” [Dwarf]
This caused the dwarf to look at him and shout. But, Ryner couldn’t tell what he was saying, so he relied on Meirith’s translation.
“What’d he just say?” [Ryner]
“Um, he asked, same thing like you.” [Meirith]
“Ohhhh… I SAID ‘THERE’S A DWARF HERE’!” [Ryner]
“HUH!? MISSY, WHAT’D HE JUST SAY?!” [Dwarf]
“…” [Meirith]