"You gotta be kidding me." I looked in frustration at the remains of the dark aura.
Of course, it wasn't dead yet. We still had to fight for a bit more, but I had no idea how to do that without risk of feeding it more mana. That would just undo all our hard work, just like my attack at the start.
This time by summoning worms 'it' should exhaust all of its dark aura, but there is always a possibility that worms absorb mana without aura as well.
All of this motivated me to rise levels for 'devour mana'. This thing has incredible potential, stopping spells is a very good example. But it can't be done on the spot and I will need some time at the Inn to ponder how to do that. I have this skill only for a few days and I had nothing similar in the old world.
"Any new ideas ?" asked Larnok.
"We could wait a bit to restore some mana, then finish it off, but there is a high possibility that thing will restore itself as well." said Megildur.
In the meantime, remains of the dark aura reached new grounds and started gathering it's new body.
"Hey, Amodar ! Up for competition in tossing stones ?" I asked while looking at the minotaur and then at Master.
"Ha ha ha !" laughed Master and then one after another large stones started appearing.
Amodar looked at the stones, then at the Irregular and then at me. An evil grin appeared on his face and he dashed to pick nearby stone. I followed suit and soon rain started in the dungeon, but instead of drops of water, giant boulders dropped on our exhausted enemy.
You have gained 1422 experience points for overcoming your adversary.
And just like that, the Irregular was stoned to death. Having oversized phantom arms and legs helped to get a good grip when tossing large boulders.
Finally! It's finally dead! I think after all of this my disgust for worms increased by another level. We used up all our oil, a lot of mana and time, and after all our efforts there was nothing left we can sell. Worst enemy ever.
"Well, at least we can brag that we killed it. What are your plans now ?" asked Larnok.
"Master, let's go to the forth floor." I quickly stepped in.
"Oi Kitty, we haven't killed a single monster that is usual for this floor, and you want to go to the next already ?" asked Master.
"But Master, on the forth floor we can find formida." I said while using body manipulation to suppress drooling. I could already imagine large piles of gold coins.
"He he. Ok, but we will go only to mark our portal stones there. We already spent a lot of time in this dungeon. A birthday should be celebrated Kitty, and it will feel way better if we do that when you are not a slave. I am sure that formida earned you enough money for that." said Master and caressed my ear.
"Ahhh." was all I managed to say.
"What about you guys ?" asked Master while facing the dwarf and co.
"We will continue there for few more hours. Today we planed to take it easy, that Irregular just picked our curiosity. Besides Morohtar and Megildur have to recover their mana. By the way, want to join us on the journey to the Capital? Not now of course, after few weeks. After a month the Guild will hold a tournament there. Besides nice monetary reward, they will offer large amounts of guild points as a prize." said Larnok.
Master looked at me and I enthusiastically nodded few times in response.
"Why not? Where can we find you ?" answered Reveon.
"You often could find me at the tavern "Dancing Arachne", if not, then that leaves only my house, Retiko street, third house to the left from the bakery. Though I usually only sleep there, you will have way better chances to find me at the tavern."
*
After we left their party I accepted an invitation to join Master anew. We then headed for the next floor. On the way, we meet some direwolf's and greater spiders, but there was no challenge in killing them.
The fourth floor was similar to the third, with a slight difference in height. As I looked up at the ceiling, I spotted few more formida in the distance. No wrong, those were .. arachne. Spider-like creatures at the bottom and fully human top of a woman. They were 'sitting' upside down on the ceiling, almost sixty meters from the ground. The moment they noticed my gaze they turned invisible. Not fully, more like became transparent with a slight distortion, just like one hunter alien from an old movie.
The narrative has been illicitly obtained; should you discover it on Amazon, report the violation.
At the portal, we saw many adventurers resting or mending their wounds. As we were getting closer I overheard a conversation of some. It appears that spawn rate of monsters increased a bit. It's nothing unusual and happens from time to time, but most of them were not prepared for that to happen today and suffered some wounds.
It doesn't matter to us though, as our hunting in the dungeon for today has ended. After we marked our portal stones, it was time to actually use them. We stepped on the structure of portal and after shouting 'exit', the stone glowed and the next moment we were back at the Outpost.
Those portals were not always part of the dungeon. Master said that they were created by powerful enchanters right at the end of "The Dark Ages". They are constantly improved if there are any significant discoveries in the area of enchantments.
*
As we reached Endorod City, our first stop was the Inn where I changed into my spare tunic, couldn't do anything about holes on armor, but at least I will not draw as much attention now. Next stop was the storage of the Guild, there we delivered corpses and cores of monsters from the dungeon. Since none of them were dismantled into parts, we will get a bit less. But with numbers we had, it would take forever for Kilmor to do that. Sadly there was nothing that could prove the kill of Irregular, that thing was really terrible. And finally, it was time to receive rewards from a receptionist.
We got almost 7 gold for the hunted monsters and their cores, while the corpse of formida alone got us whooping 47 gold. Overall we got 54 gold and 23 silver. With all of this done we started heading to the building dealing with slaves. I was about to get my freedom.
*
"Welcome to 'Caged Bird', my name is Bunrak, how can I help you ?" we were greeted by the old dwarf.
He glanced both of us and after looking at me for a bit longer, his eyes widened in surprise. Seems only now he remembered me.
"I am Reveon, I bought her half week ago and would like to set her free." said Master.
"Hmm .. are you sure? As a slave, she already belongs to you for a lifetime. If you set her free it will be irreversible." asked the dwarf.
After Reveon nodded in response he just shrugged.
"Well, it's your money. If I remember correctly, she was sold by her parents, and not a criminal .. yes, it's possible to release her. Very well, follow me." said Bunrak.
*
And I was standing in the middle of magic symbol once again. Reveon, Bunrak and me dropped a bit of our blood on the circle
"Release slave status !" shouted Master as instructed.
"Confirm slave status release !" shouted Bunrak.
"Once Mark of Law detects that enslavement isn't legal anymore, the collar will open .. there. Congratulations Melissa, you are now officially a free person. As for this collar, I must ask to sell it to us. Using it on your own would be considered illegal. We offer 4 gold coins and 50 silvers. 20 silvers are for services of the ritual." said the dwarf while taking collar away.
I am finally free. I have nothing against playing a slave for Master, but that's just a play. Besides, having explosives on your neck is a bit unsettling. It feels so nice to be finally free. Wait a second .. almost five gold for the collar .. does that mean my actual price was just 3 gold coins? Uhh. This realization dampened my mood a bit.
*
"Now that you are free, want to carry your own gold ?" asked Master when we left the 'Caged Bird'.
"Why should I? I have you Master, a walking, and thief proof coin purse." I said with a smile.
"He he, nice one. Still Master huh? You realize that you are free now? You don't need to call me Master." he said.
"What, you don't like it? Well, too bad. I can call you Rev if you want." I teased him.
"Not you too Kitty .. Ohh .. I am sorry, I just realized that I never called you by the name. Do you want me to .." he started to apologize, but I quickly interrupted.
"I like when you call me Kitty. Name Melissa was given by 'parents' who sold me into slavery, I don't have any attachment to it. Just call me Kitty."
"Sure thing Kitty. I like it too." said Master with a grin.
"Master, I need to get a forge and blacksmithing tools, hmm .. and some fabric to make new clothes." I remembered what I wanted to buy if I had money.
"Hmm, you are right, a forge would be nice. I could even put my enchantment magic to good use. But don't forget that It's your birthday today, want anything special ?" asked Reveon.
I started to ponder. There are many things I would like, but I shouldn't cross the line and make it something simple. Hmm.
"I want a hot bath !" I almost shouted when I finally thought of something.
"Well, maybe I could manage to slip you into one of the nobles .. wait a second. With my fire and enchantment magic, I could make my own. And with my Space Time magic we could use it anytime. Hmm, let's go shopping Kitty." said Reveon and quickened his steps.
*
A forge and blacksmithing tools were obtained from a Merchant Guild. We were lucky they had some in the warehouse. Same was with a large basin, Master planned to make it into a bath tub. Well, you definitely could fit three or four people in it, it was quite big. We also bought some ore and fabric at the Guild, and when I saw that we still have gold left, I bought some tools and materials for an alchemy. It will take some time to make sense of what is what with the naming of this world, but once I do, it should be possible to add some explosives to my arsenal.
With all serious stuff done it was time to celebrate my birthday. I can't wait til we get back and Master finish enchants for a bath tub. A hot bath would make this day perfect. Hmm, maybe I will even drag Master to bathe together. He he, there should be no room for 'maybe', I will definitely drag him in.