“After waking up, I found myself in a strange house on a bed. No one was around, but a note had been left for me. It told me that you and Olivia had been ambushed and teleported to unknown places. It left instructions about an old man who could teleport me to you.
“So I left as quickly as I could, and after a few days I arrived at the old man’s house, but I don’t remember much except for waking up after arriving at his house. He then teleported me outside of Vale.”
Raising an eyebrow as Elizabeth spoke quietly, her story didn’t add up. She should’ve been in Ithil, with Olivia’s parents around. They didn’t seem the type to just leave a note, though I hadn’t known them for long. Asking Elizabeth, she looked at me confused and shook her head.
“I don’t remember any villages, or other elves. I just woke up in a house that was…huh, where was that house.”
Looking troubled, she frowned while staring forward a bit blanky before shaking her head again. “I’m sorry, I can’t remember. Honestly everything is hazy from when I first woke up, maybe because I’m travelling while still recovering.
“The other thing the note said is that to stop the corruption of that red mist, they used a part of your soul and bound mine to yours, using your soul's energy to stop the corruption.”
I became suspicious of those words. I do not recall that ever happening. Turning to her, I asked her if she still had the note, and handing me a crumpled piece of paper, I read it over. I found the handwriting plain and simple, but couldn’t tell who wrote it. I’d love to write like this…
Finishing the note, it matched almost exactly what Elizabeth had said, but it never mentioned arriving at Ithil. The only conclusion I could make was for her safety Olivia’s parents took Elizabeth somewhere else to be healed. Something didn’t line up though; how’d this healer the note mentions use part of my soul? I didn’t feel anything different…wait, can you feel your soul?
Handing her the note back, Elizabeth puts it away and starts talking again. “From there, I arrived outside of Vale and a few minutes later an adventurer came to get me. They took me to an office and left me in the care of a man named Jerry. He sorted me out with an identity chain and gave me money for an inn. Since I didn’t know where to go, he offered to hire a guide for me.
“When I asked him about you, he had no idea. He only said I could try my luck at the Adventurer's Guild, however since the blizzard was about to strike the Guild had closed. The guide helped me find an inn and showed me some shops, and with the 5 Silver coins I had gotten I managed to book a few days there. It’s a little inn called Mama Crow’s Inn.”
Hearing her speak, I didn’t interrupt her as she told her story. In my mind however, I was still stuck on the details of when she had first awoken. Something just didn’t sit right with me but I couldn’t tell what it was. Hearing Elizabeth speak again, she goes over in detail about what happened after the blizzard.
“Once the blizzard passed, I rushed out to the Guild as quickly as I could. I met a serious looking woman, Claire, who took me through the process of becoming an adventurer. I asked her about you but she hadn’t even heard of you. However, while showing me around the floor for Bronze adventurers, we ran into a lady called Elise.
“At first, I hadn’t intended to ask her, I had thought out of everyone in the Guild it’s likely I wouldn’t find anyone who knew you. Claire however brought up your looks and name to Elise, apparently if a Guild employee registers you then you’ll be under their care. Turns out, Elise knows you and is the one responsible for you.
“After finding out that you had arrived much earlier, Elise said you had headed to the sixth floor of this dungeon. She told me where it was and without saying anything else, I sort of rushed out to find you, ignoring Claire who tried to stop me. You know the rest from there.”
As we sat in silence, I took in what Elizabeth had said to me. Minutes passed before I asked a question. “How did you know where we were?”
“It’s odd. I’ve always felt your presence the moment I arrived outside of Vale, but it was murky, like trying to look at something far away, unable to focus on it. Once I entered the dungeon, it became clearer the more levels, or rather the closer I got to you. Once I arrived on the sixth floor, it was as clear as it could be, I just headed right towards the presence I felt, and after getting lost in the tunnels for a while, I found that crack in the wall and heard fighting.”
Remembering the image I saw when she had entered, she had her sword drawn while staring at me in relief and worry. Pursuing my lips, I still didn’t know how to act, I had never expected for Elizabeth to arrive. Feeling an arm wrap around my shoulders, I see Elizabeth looking at me, with a faint smile.
“You’ve had it rough, right? I’m sorry I wasn’t there for you. It’s good that you’re safe.”
Leaning against Elizabeth, I sighed and shook my head.
“Why are you apologising? I went and foolishly got myself teleported here, now I can’t see Sally or Gray anytime soon, and I have no idea where Olivia is. Did you know, Elizabeth? It’ll take us nearly twelve years to get back to them. We can’t just return tomorrow. And not only that…”
I continue venting all my frustrations to her. Everything about my lack of knowledge, the Church, my frustrations about not knowing how the System worked. At first it was a trickle, but soon I was nearly yelling, getting frustrated with my situation. Elizabeth only sat there and listened to me. After talking for so long, I felt my throat had gotten dry, and unknowingly I had been crying at some point.
A few moments followed as we sat in silence once again. Elizabeth pats my shoulder after some time and says “Well, I’m just happy you’re safe, Alisha. And you too, Alice.” Patting Alice on her lap, I smiled. “At the very least, you won’t be alone here anymore.”
Hearing her words, I felt tears well up once more. She’d cared more about the three of us more than herself since Crater Hell and she still does. Hearing shuffling coming from the doorway, I jump up and get on guard as Elizabeth does the same.
Entering the room is a bald, middle aged man with a Silver plate around his necklace. Looking at us both with some surprise, his eyes shift to the behind us while raising an eyebrow. Focusing on something, he spoke up with a husky voice.
“Aubrey, whatcha doin’? Room filled with corpses, a field day for ya, huh?”
While keeping my guard up, I listened out behind me as a voice spoke up.
“Bloom, it’s none of your business. Take your party and leave.”
“Ey, don’t be harsh Aubrey. A story is a brewin’ here, spill the beans”
Gathering mana into my fist and readying a Star Dust fist, the bald man named Bloom looked at me before laughing.
“Good! If yer roughin’ for a fight, I don’t mind.”
Stolen story; please report.
Hearing a sigh from behind me, I heard Aubrey speak. “Alisha, drop it. This idiot will fight anything that moves. Just ignore him and he’ll go away.”
Laughing once again while I dispelled my magic, Bloom turned his head.
“OI, TURN BACK. IT’S A SLAUGHTER ROOM, AUBREY GOT FIRST RIGHTS.”
A mix of voices sound out behind him as he turns back to me. Grinning, he says “Find me in the Guild if yer looking for a beatin’ sweetheart.” Turning, he left with those words. Wondering what that was all about, I turned to see Aubrey with her serious face, watching the entranceway before looking towards me.
“Alright, let's get to it. You two, loot the corpses and take anything of value and bring it over to me. If it’s worth anything I’ll store it, otherwise we’ll throw it. I’ll loot the monsters here then we’ll decide on what to do with those two.” Pointing her thumb behind her, I saw the two gagged people had awoken at some point and were staring daggers at me.
“Oh, and make sure to collect their adventurer plates.” Upon saying this, Aubrey turned to the pile of monsters and started working away. Looking at her bag, I wondered how she managed to fit all of it in. Making a mental note to ask her later, I got to work stripping the armour and plates off the corpses around us.
After we worked quietly for an hour, we had finished. Out of the armour that we had grabbed, half of it had been thrown away while Aubrey put the rest away. Before I could ask, Elizabeth asked her how she managed to store so much.
Looking at Elizabeth and then myself, she said in a rather serious tone “It’s a dimensional bag…do you two not know what they are?”
Elizabeth and I shake our heads at the same time as Aubrey sighed. “It’s a rather common drop from one of the dungeons in Vale. This bag can hold about a cupboard’s worth of stuff before I can’t fit anything else in. This one is quite rare, about 3 Gold coins all up. The common drops usually give you double the size of your bag, Alisha. Those go for about 1 Gold coin.”
Intrigued about how it worked, I wanted to get one myself. It would certainly help with carrying all these potions and rations around. Dropping my bag before fighting helps, but lugging it around certainly was a chore.
As Aubrey stores the last of the items we’ve collected, she clapped her hands. “Right, all done. Now then, only one more problem left.”
Looking towards the bound and gagged people, I made a suggestion. “We could kill them, after all, their friend led us into a trap to have us killed or enslaved.”
Shaking her head, Aubrey says “I agree on killing Henry, he deserved it, however we don’t know anything about those two, I’ve never seen them either.” Pausing for a moment, she nods before continuing “We’ll take their loot and let them walk. They have bigger problems, those slave collars are still active, meaning William wasn’t the owner of the collars, someone else is.”
“Why take their loot, if you don’t mind me asking? I’m still new to all of this.” Glancing over her shoulder and looking at Elizabeth, Aubrey answered her.
“Simple. We saved them and their idiot friend ensured we would receive all their loot for doing so. They only have him to blame for promising that to us.”
Looking at Aubrey in surprise, I found I liked the serious side to her quite a bit. Following her up to the gagged and bound pair, she crouches in front of the female and pulls out the gag. Her eyes never left me as she continued staring daggers at me.
“You’re dead, bitch.” As I shrug at her words, Aubrey kneels in front of her.
“We can leave you here if you want. Your magic and strength is sealed and you’re injured. You’re in no position to threaten anyone.”
Looking conflicted, the woman glares at me again and says “Fine. What do you want from me?”
“A contract by the System, swearing that you will not attempt to harm us while in the Tomb of Lilith and all of your loot.” Letting Aubrey take the lead, when she brought up the contract I felt surprised. I remember Anita had done a contract back in Zalus.
Glaring at Aubrey this time, the woman spoke up. “You have no idea who I am, do you, monster. Fine. I, Bridget von Firebrand hereby declare on the System that I will not harm any of you three while we are within the Tomb of Lilith.”
Seeing a notification come up, the System registered the contract. Just like Anita, the System said her punishment would be death. Accepting it, I saw Aubrey nod with satisfaction before pulling the gag out of the male. Looking conflicted while staring at me with daggers in his eyes, he made the same contract and I learnt his name was Richard von Firebrand.
Once done, Aubrey pulled out a strange key and moved behind the two and with a clunk, their shackles had been removed. Both standing, they continued to stare at me deeply while I met their eyes. I wasn’t afraid of them, and seeing that they both were Bronze grade I knew they were of similar levels to me. Dropping their bags, they left the room through the entranceway.
“Hmph, rich kids.” Tilting my head at Aubrey’s comment while turning to her, she waved her hand and went “You’ll see those types everywhere. Don’t fear, if they dare try and trouble you their families will be executed. Remember, if you’re killed in here it is a decree that you can not seek out revenge outside of the dungeon.
“It’s also why I favour dealing with rich kids like those two, they just repeat my words, not knowing that by swearing not to attack us within the Tomb of Lilith it doesn’t mean until they leave and come back in, it means whenever we’re in here with them.”
Blinking in surprise, I realised that they never said when the contract would end. Looking at this young girl with antlers coming from her head, I knew she’d purposefully set them up. Sighing once again, Aubrey turns to us and says “Alright, once we have sorted out the loot here, we’ll leave.”
Frowning slightly, I’m about to disagree with going back before I stop myself. She’d said not to refuse her words about leaving, and there must’ve been a reason for her wanting to leave. As if waiting for me to respond to her, I simply nod.
“Oh? Well, I expected some resistance. It’s good you know when to listen to me. I’ll explain why we’re withdrawing, make sure to remember these reasons, when you come back here it’ll be vital information.
“First of all, we just massacred nine people. Don’t get me wrong, all nine deserved it. I admit I was a bit shocked when you killed Henry, though that is more how decisive you were about it. I do agree he deserved to die for leading us into this mess, so good work. The massacre does raise a problem for us because we’re all exhausted, even if you have a level refresh our state of mind will still be exhausted.
“Second reason. We have a lot of loot. I barely have any space left as it is. Thankfully I have a dimensional bag so we’re not just wandering around with everything on display, but we can’t just leave monster corpses unlooted. We have a lot of very valuable loot as well.
“Last reason. Her.” Pointing at Elizabeth, Aubrey had an angry look on her face. “I don’t care for the reason, but being a Level 20 on Floor 6 is an invitation to an early grave. I don’t care for the reason either. We can’t walk around with a weak link like her, it leaves us vulnerable. While you’re much stronger than I had thought you to be Alisha, the monsters here will be attracted to such a weakling.”
Hearing her reasoning, I found I couldn’t really refute it. While my body was in fantastic shape and I could keep going, mentally I was drained. Everything that had happened today had left me with too much on my mind. And she was completely right about Elizabeth, and while I trusted her skills as a fighter, she had been seriously injured fighting the enslavers earlier.
Looking towards Elizabeth, she simply giggles while smiling at me. “Well, she’s got me there. Still, this is all exciting to me.”
Looking at Aubrey, she nodded. “At least you understand. Now, let's get out of here, I want a bath.” Agreeing with her, I took Alice from Elizabeth’s head and cradled her as we moved towards the entranceway while making our way back.
***
Arriving back at the first floor, I felt exhausted. Not physically but most certainly mentally. While trying to leave the sixth floor, we ran into two more Mimics, a pack of Red Slimes and a Skeleton Warrior. I knew why Aubrey wanted to leave now, even though I was physically fine I still wanted to just go back to the inn and relax.
We walk in silence down the passageway. I had a lot I wanted to talk to Elizabeth about, however it would have to wait till we weren’t in a dungeon. Seeing the exit just ahead, I sighed in relief as Aubrey did the same. Elizabeth had been quiet throughout the trip, seemingly taking in her surroundings while also watching me fight. She hadn’t said anything about it yet.
As we near the exit, I started thinking of what we should do next, but I simply felt too tired to think that much. Sighing as we stepped through the exit, we arrived back in the lobby and waiting for us there was Elise and an unfamiliar woman, who was staring angrily at Elizabeth.