Dungeon Encounter

cold.

A harsh chill rubbed against his face, moving roughly along his nerves. His scattered consciousness was startled by this, and finally slowly gathered, forming again from the hazy chaos.

She opened her eyes.

Years of training allowed her to skip the initial confusion of waking up and regain consciousness immediately, but the next moment, the pain that came with the coldness made her frown, and she was unable to stand up for a while.

It hurts...it hurts so much!

Pain means damage, and damage brings weakness and crisis.

She immediately bit back a cry of pain, turned her gaze, and used the smallest movement to determine the severity and extent of the injury.

It's a burn.

Large areas of burns.

Not only the torso and limbs, but my cheeks are probably also affected... No wonder it was so painful when I tried to lift my face just now.

But it makes sense. After all, what burned her on the altar before was the fire from the gods... The fact that she still has a complete body and has not turned into ashes is already beyond common sense.

But she vaguely remembered that after she fell off the altar, she seemed to fall into a bottomless dark pool below, and was quickly swept away by a turbulent whirlpool...

She had no recollection of what happened afterwards.

Where is this?

The bricks and stones beneath are rough, the wall tiles are damp and old, and the air is stagnant and dirty... Not to mention living in it, even storage is too makeshift.

Is it a basement somewhere?

Why is she here?

As I was observing my surroundings with my peripheral vision, I suddenly heard the sound of rustling clothes coming from the opposite side.

She was immediately startled and looked up suddenly despite the severe pain, only to meet a pair of golden-red eyes across the double iron bars.

Underground, railings...dungeon?

This quickly revised perception made her alert. In order to hide her weakness as much as possible, she propped up her seriously injured body, suppressed her trembling, and looked calmly at the person opposite her without any expression.

The light source in the dungeon comes from the torches on the corridor walls. There is wind in the corridor, and the flames flicker dimly.

In the cell opposite her was a young man, about her age, with black hair and golden eyes. His clothes, though a little messy, were still exquisite and sophisticated, making him look like the son of a wealthy family.

The light was dim and he was at a distance, so she couldn't tell where he came from by the texture of the clothes or the style of the tailoring... But based on her past experience, a young man of this age and background would not have such terrifying fighting skills.

Do you want to kill him?

In her current state, could she actually finish him off instantly?

Just as she focused her eyes on the other person's neck, the latter suddenly spoke first.

"……How are you?"

The boy came up to the railing and looked her over and over, his eyes filled with worry.

"What's wrong with your injuries? Why are they so severe? Did 'they' do it?"

they?

Who are they?

She tried to ask, but her throat felt dry and blocked. After several attempts, she coughed up a large amount of blood foam.

The person involved didn't realize anything, but the person on the other side seemed to be startled. Not only did he subconsciously hold on to the railing in front of him, but even his voice became a little hoarse.

"Oh my God! Are you okay?! Hold on! Wait a minute, let me see if I have any healing scrolls hidden on me..."

As he spoke, he searched his body anxiously, as if the injury she suffered was a very serious incident.

She was a little confused.

Why did this person react this way?

Isn't it a good thing for him that a person of unknown origin, who doesn't know whether he is friend or foe, is seriously injured? What's there to be anxious about?

The healing scroll... that's a very important and expensive magic item. From what he said, does he want to give it to her?

Why? They don’t know each other.

After carefully examining the other person again and confirming that he could not possibly be from her family and naturally had no obligation to help her, her doubts deepened.

“Found it!”

A cheer of joy came from the opposite side, so cheerful that even the torches seemed to become brighter.

The boy slowly unfolded a very finely folded piece of parchment, carefully smoothed out the creases, and then slowly rolled it back into a tube.

Seeing that she had been looking at him, he thought she might have misunderstood something, and even scratched his head a little embarrassedly as he explained, "Hey, just in case, in addition to my usual backpack, I always carry a few small props scattered around my body... Look, isn't this coming in handy? Don't worry, I've tested it before, and as long as it's not contaminated, creases won't affect the effectiveness."

After saying that, he actually reached out his hand and rolled the scroll along the aisle.

She didn't answer it immediately.

The scroll faintly emanated a calming, peaceful magical energy, seemingly derived from some kind of healing spell. Furthermore, based on her past experience, it didn't seem to harbor any restrictions or traps...

But in this world, there are no gifts without reason.

At this time, he should have proposed some conditions... But if he really had any conditions, wouldn't it be too late to propose them after giving the scroll?

Now that the things were in front of her, she could just take them without paying any attention to any requests he might make later.

This person is so weird.

It's so weird.

Is it because I am so inexperienced that I am so unguarded?

Facing her ever-vigilant gaze, the young man was also puzzled. After they stared at each other silently for a while, the latter suddenly looked as if he had understood. He tapped his palms and said in sudden realization, "Could it be... you don't understand me? Oh, this is troublesome. I thought the common language was completely popular on the mainland..."

For some reason, an unfamiliar feeling of powerlessness suddenly came over me.

It was as ridiculous as if you were ready to go in the arena, but the opponent suddenly slapped his head and said that you just got up early to buy bread.

But I have to say, after these few times, the boy's relaxation has somewhat infected her.

The burns on her body were very severe, and the wounds were not treated. She rolled on the coarse gravel ground. It was impossible for an ordinary person to be as calm as she was at this moment.

But even she, now that she was relieved, couldn't help but feel a little uncomfortable.

Since the other party didn't show any malicious intent, and there were two fences between us, it would be better to slow down for a while and get used to the pain before doing anything else...

“Boom.”

A heavy sound of footsteps came from the other side of the aisle, and the originally calm silence between the two was suddenly mixed with a subtle sense of urgency.

“Boom.”

It seemed as if someone was walking down the stairs on the other side, with a large body and slow movements.

“Boom.”

The footsteps stopped.

The two of them simultaneously turned their gazes towards the source of the sound. Under the flickering firelight, a gray head suddenly popped out from the unclear entrance of the corridor.

The head vaguely had human features, but they were very blurry, like a half-carved semi-finished product that was taken out for use.

It stretched out from the corridor entrance, its neck extended like a snake, and it looked inside the corridor with its eyes, which it was not sure whether they could see or not.

After a while, its attention seemed to be focused on the scroll on the ground.

After noticing this, she took a deep breath, stood up with great pain, and grabbed him into her cell!

The next moment, a loud noise was heard from that location—a weapon shaped like a cane flew over and hit exactly where the scroll was!

It was a close call... This healing scroll would have been destroyed!

Looking at the unknown monster whose face was right in front of her but whose body was still slowly approaching, she glanced at the new wound on her hand caused by the strong wind, tightened the scroll, and dragged her severely injured body with great effort, instinctively wanting to distance herself from it.

No, this body is too cumbersome, there is no chance of winning...

Do you want to use it?

Although I don't know to what extent ordinary healing scrolls can restore me, no matter what, it is at least better than my current state where I can't even stand up...

Compared to the innocent-looking boy opposite, the monster in front of him is obviously more threatening!

"It's okay, don't move! This thing won't attack the people in the cell!"

At this moment, the black-haired boy opposite suddenly spoke.

Because of his voice, the monster that was originally facing her turned its head and looked to the other side——

But just as he said, this monster with a long thin neck and dressed in a waiter-like uniform came to greet his body. After pausing for a moment in front of their cell door, it seemed that it did not find anything unusual. It then pulled back its cane, took heavy steps, and slowly disappeared at the other end of the corridor.

After watching it go away in silence, she secretly breathed a sigh of relief.

Just as she was about to ask the young man how he knew all this, he spoke before her, even urging him anxiously: "Can you hear me? Quick, use that scroll! - Don't you know magic? If not, hand that thing back to me and I'll help you!"

He spoke and gestured, seeming to be really anxious.

What's going on?

Why was he so determined to have her treat him?

Suspicious, she inadvertently turned her gaze and saw a glaring bloodstain on the ground.

It should be what I left when I moved back just now... For people who don't see blood often, it does look shocking.

Are you afraid that you will die?

She's just a stranger, why do you care so much... The young master in trouble finally found someone he can talk to, so he's willing to spend a huge amount of money to bring her back to life?

Seeing that he was so anxious that he was about to invent his own sign language, she steadied her breath, which was a little disordered due to the pain, and finally asked, "...What are your conditions?"

Her voice was hoarse, and vaguely damaged by the fire - fortunately, the pain was manageable, and she was able to speak clearly.

"You can talk? That's great! Do you know how ugly you look right now? I can't even imagine how much pain you must be in! - I don't have any conditions, it's just an ordinary healing scroll. Please use it quickly, I beg you. If you can't even walk, it will be really difficult for us to escape!"

"We"...does this mean you want to escape with her?

This sounds like a reason.

She was not proficient in magic, but using the scroll did not require too much magic power.

These parchments record one-time spells. With just a slight fluctuation of magic power, they can allow the user to instantly release magic far more powerful than their own abilities, and can completely influence the outcome of the battle at critical moments.

However, parchment that can carry magic power needs to be specially refined, and the magician who can engrave magic circles on it cannot work for nothing. Therefore, these magic scrolls are not cheap. If a team can have a few of them to use, it is considered quite wealthy.

She had used similar props at home before and was not unfamiliar with them.

After confirming once again that the monster had gone far away and that the boy opposite had not moved, she transferred a trace of magic power to the scroll.

The magic circle on the scroll lit up, then burned out instantly—

But the next moment, a severe headache suddenly hit her, like a needle piercing her skull, and her vision went black!