Pier ended up being third to arrive at their rendezvous just outside of the Bronze Flare with Ser and Gourd sitting in the middle of the street for seemingly no reason.
“Where’s Lyos?” Pier questioned.
“Oh, she’s just getting the stuff ready to find the Dungeon,” Ser lazily answered.
Pier decided to cut his losses and wait for Lyos with them on the ground. Soon after, Lyos emerged from the Bronze Flare with a peculiar object in hand. It was a blue, glowing crystal shaped like an elongated octahedron(Ramiel???), and Lyos held it gently between both of her hands.
“What’s that?” Pier asked.
“This is a Crystalline butterfly made from Beezle Particles. It’ll pick up on the flow of nearby Particles and follow them to their destination. Since this Dungeon is a special case, the Beezle flow is likely focused on it rather than being split between other, weaker Dungeons. So, we can use this to reliably locate the Dungeon.”
“That sounds useful.”
“It is, but its uses are circumstantial because of how easy it can be for it to be guided to something else disrupting the flow of the Beezle Particles. That and the fact that being able to get your hands on one of these is incredibly difficult due to their composition being that of solely Beezle Particles. Reice had made a few back when we had started adventuring, but this is the only one left. How fitting that now the creation will be serving its purpose in order to help us find its creator.” The crystal floated away from Lyos’s hands, unfurling into a construct of several cuboid shapes forming something akin to a butterfly. The butterfly zipped around for a moment, as if familiarizing itself with its surroundings, before picking up speed as it traveled down one side of the street.
“Ok,” Ser grunted as he stood up from the ground, “We just follow that butterfly, and we find our Dungeon.”
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The grainy sound of steps against stone was quickly forgotten as the rustle of leaves and squishiness of dirt took over. Lyos led the party, following the crystal butterfly from an approximate three feet at all times. The silence was slowly eating away at the composure of everybody, making them increasingly more nervous. After some inner turmoil, Pier finally found a worthwhile question to ask.
“So,” Pier’s anxiety caused him to hesitate for a moment, “What do all of you intend on doing after saving Reice?”
“I’m… I’m not sure,” Lyos said with a tone of genuine confusion.
“Knowing Reice, she’ll probably take a day or two to recover before trying to get us going on another adventure. That’s how it's always been. What about you, Pier?”
“Hmmm, I’m not sure either,” Pier found himself wondering what Millie and the others were doing, maybe they were off enjoying themselves, or maybe they were all enjoying their own private time in their own way. I wanna see them again–The thought emerged from the depths of Pier’s consciousness. Of course he wanted to see his friends again, but how was he supposed to when he’d been suddenly teleported into another world. On top of this, he’d been given an entirely new body to replace his original one.
The genuine version of this novel can be found on another site. Support the author by reading it there.
“If you want, you can continue adventuring with us. I’m sure Reice would welcome you with open arms,” Gourd said from the back of the group. Pier considered the option, but would that mean he’d have to give up his past life? I shouldn’t think about this for too long, for now I should focus on the rescue effort. Everything else can come after–Pier resolved himself on this notion. Pier answered Ser with uncertainty before coming around to another question.
“What’s Reice like?”
“Hm? Why do you ask now?” Ser inquired.
“Well, I’ve heard a lot of things about her, but I don’t know what she’s actually like. Also, I would like to have some sort of image about the person I’m trying to save before actually saving her.”
“She’s a handful,” Lyos said bluntly, “I mean, she dragged all of us into adventuring, always drags us into random requests she finds buried on the request boards, and then just goes to sleep after it all! Of course she’s a handful, and now she goes and gets kidnapped by some massive skeleton! Like, what’re we supposed to do now?! She’s the one we chose to join in adventuring, she’s the one who always cheered us up, and now that airhead’s got us chasing after her! I swear, after this I’m gonna get myself a house and laze around all day!”
“With what money?” Gourd questioned.
“Haha. Well, there you have it I guess,” Ser said as he watched Gourd and Lyos argue once more, “Reice’s a real piece of work, but I guess that’s why we stay with her. After all, what would she do without us to help her?”
As Pier watched Ser quell the escalating argument between Lyos and Gourd, he couldn’t help but feel envious of them.
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The four continued walking until dusk, where they then recovered the Crystal Butterfly and found a small area void of trees to set up camp. Pier was put on watch first where he was left to his thoughts, the creeping dark, and tending to the campfire. The embers of the fire happily danced as Pier fed it another piece of firewood. Pier drearily watched as the fire popped and crackled, soon it’d be Ser’s turn to take watch. Something soon caught Pier’s attention, bringing him back to his senses before he fully fell asleep. He stood and drew his sword as the sound became louder.
“Hey, Pier, wake up!” It was a voice, one Pier recognized, “Your mom will get mad at you if she finds you sleeping outside!”
Another voice spoke up.
“Pier, my guy, I need to see your homework! I was too busy with practice, I’m begging you man!”
A third followed soon after.
“C-Can I really have this? T-Thank you… and sorry.”
Millie, Laos, even Nikos… What is this–Pier’s thoughts were interrupted as once more, a familiar voice spoke up.
“How interesting… Everyone that seeks my creator holds ties to the magician we hold now,” Pier quickly stood and drew his sword as Drone spoke, “So, why is it that one such as yourself, who has such wonderful relationships already, now seeks to save someone they haven’t even met? Is it out of desperation? A need to fulfill your own ego? Or, perhaps, you do this to spite your own inability to see your own beloved ones. So interesting, oh so very interesting… You, who is not of this world, now seeks anothers’ companion when you don’t even know the condition of your own companions. Worry not, your destination is not far off. My creator awaits your arrival, little traveler, as do I.”
Pier could hear the rustling of bushes far away before the voices stopped.
“Pier, it's time to swap,” Ser drearily said. As Ser took Pier’s place in front of the campfire and Pier found a comfortable spot to sleep, the incident that had taken place minutes prior was still fresh in Pier’s mind. Was it real? Or was it just a sleep-deprived induced delusion?
As day broke, the search for Drone and his creator continued.