Chapter 2: Chapter 2: Is it Wrong to Heal Neurotic Girls in a Dungeon?
After his house got truly done in. Lars sobered up when he realized that a fucking person just fell from the sky.
Running inside, he coughed as dust dominated inside.
Expecting a splattered human, he winced and had a grim expression on his face.
But what he saw when the dust settles was a gray haired woman. (Pic)
"Hello? Hey, hey, are you okay? I never thought that I'll say that crap that you learn from CPR classes." Lars tapped her face.
He then noticed that she was covered in wounds and was pretty much half dead.
"I'm not a doctor... But people with weak pulses and pale faces are like almost dead right?" Lars started sweating.
"Hey! Miss, wake up!" He shook her, but she wasn't responding.
He checked her breathing, but she wasn't doing so.
So he went into action and started giving her cpr.
"Wha!? Her sternum is like a goddamned brick!" Lars tried to give chest compressions, but it was like pushing on solid steel.
So he just gave rescue breaths and hoped for the best.
After doing it for a couple of times, the woman started hacking and she coughed up blood.
Her eyes opened up weakly and she looked at him. "No-isy..." She complained.
"You're dying miss, I don't think you should be complaining about noise." Lars frowned heavily.
She looked around for a second, but she got confused instead.
"A child in a dungeon? I must be losing my mind." The woman chuckled wryly.
"Dungeon? What are you talking about? Here, drink some water." Lars took out his flask from his inventory.
"A spatial skill?" She blinked at him. He tried to give her some water. But she just stared at Lars with her mismatched eyes.
And her right, green eye was starting to lose its luster.
"Having a child take care of me before I die. How I wish that I have taken care of your child, Meteria." She looked pensive.
"Hey, don't die on me damnit. I just got here, I don't want to bury a person already." Lars furrowed his brows.
"Then just leave my corpse here. The dungeon will absorb me in a few hours." The lady said morbidly.
"Wha? Absorb you? Hey! Don't close your eyes!" Lars could feel it, she was about to croak.
Her breath was hitching, and her eyes were in a daze.
"Damn it..." Lars thought of his inventory and took out his get out of trouble card.
Putting the contents of the vial in his mouth, Lars made the woman drink it forcibly.
"D-did it work?" He checked her pulse. What he didn't know though, is the woman was packing some insane strength.
In a world of swords and magic. She is someone that can be called a being at the zenith.
And suddenly being cured of all her wounds, ailments, and her mana topping up to full all at once.
It just exploded outwards. And Lars only felt an impact on his body. Everything went black immediately.
After a few seconds, the woman opened her eyes and she sat up with extreme speed. Looking like a blur.
Gasping for air, she looked at her hands and she patted her body all over.
"I was about to die..." She frowned. She has never felt that good in her life.
It was like she was completely reborn. A phoenix that went back to life from the ashes.
And that would be true. Every cell in her body was truly rejuvenated, like it was brand new.
Her body even reverted back in age to bring it to its peak. Such is the effects of a true elixir that was made by God.
She saw that her magic caused devastation around her. And the little evidence of a cabin in the surroundings splintered.
Then, she remembered. "A boy... A boy helped me."
She looked around. And being a person at the peak, her senses were as sharp as a razor.
Gasping, she saw the boy was unconscious. Just below the base of a tree where he crashed earlier.
"..."
She immediately ran towards him, moving at breakneck speeds, she analyzed his injuries.
As someone who fought the most dangerous of beasts and monsters, she had enough experience to tell what his injuries were in a glance.
"He has multiple broken bones... And it is all my fault." She bit her lip.
"Why is a boy even here? This looks like the 39th floor... A normal kid in the deep floors." She thought it was strange.
But she shook her head, that wasn't important.
With her meager emergency aid, she checked if his bones turned to smithereens.
Fortunately, they were just cracked. But still intact.
Creating some splints, she immediately tied them to his limbs.
And not knowing what to do next, she just stared at him while waiting for him to wake up.
__Few Hours Later__
Groaning in pain, Lars woke up. He opened his eyes slowly.
"W-what happened?" His breath hitched as even breathing felt painful.
His ribs were also fractured. But thankfully, it didn't snap and stab his lungs.
"You, you're finally awake." He heard a woman from the side and the crackles of a wood fire.
"You're that... Lady. Are you okay?" He asked her and she was stunned.
"Are you really asking me if I'm alright? When you're like that?" She grimaced.
"Well, yeah... I used my elixir on you. It would be crap if it didn't work yeah?" He chuckled.
But then he coughed and felt agony on his ribs.
"S-stop talking..." She stared at him in disbelief. She felt terrible, her body was as at its best condition ever since she was born.
And she hurt the one who healed her. Not to mention, some scenarios played itself in her mind.
'If only this was there back then... Meteria.' She got gloomy.
He saw her expression and thought that she felt guilty.
Which was correct, but not for the reason he thought of.
"Don't worry, you needed it. So I gave it to you. I have a condition for it though." Lars stared at her.
"Name it." She got broken out of her thoughts and agreed that she should repay him.
"Can you stay with me? I'm kind of disabled here. And what did you mean by dungeon? There's no monsters here though?" Lars had a ton of questions.
She went quiet for a good moment. Not really expecting to meet someone who doesn't know about the dungeon.
"Ohh, I'm Lars by the way. What's your name, miss?" He asked for her name.
"Alfia... You can call me Alfia." She introduced herself succinctly.
"Alfia huh? Then, I bet you won't tell me why you were calling from the sky?" Lars broke the ice as he chuckled.
But she was too stiff and serious. "No." Alfia replied and he wasn't really good with her type.
"O-okay... The dungeon please, can you explain it?" Lars was curious about it.
"We are in Orario, the dungeon city. The city is a hub where gods and goddesses descend from heaven to give their blessings to mortals and live life as a mortal." Alfia summarized.
"Gods?" Lars was shocked. There were genuine gods walking around.
"Yes... And due to the threat of the dungeon and monsters roaming around. They started handing out falna, a blessing to unlock a mortal's potential." Alfia showed her back to him.
An emblem of a woman with a crown of flowers was on her back.
"This is the blessing of a god. And when you unlock your falna, you must complete tasks to gain excelia. Something the gods use to increase your status or to level up." Alfia explained patiently.
"So this place is an rpg... Excelia is exp, and levels are sort of tiers?" Lars went into deep thought.
Alfia didn't understand some of his words, but she just listened so she could answer all his questions.
"Then, there must be skills too right?" Lars got a bit excited upon hearing he was in an rpg.
A man will definitely be excited at the prospect of adventure.
"That's correct, skills come from the soul. You don't learn them, you unlock them." Alfia replied.
"Woah, so it's all natural talent huh? This place is quite unfair." Lars mused.
Alfia suddenly got gloomy as he said that. "What's the matter Alfia?"
"I don't want to talk about it, Lars." Alfia's emotions were in turmoil.
"Okay, I won't pry. Are you an explorer or something?" Lars changed the topic.
"Yes, the Hera familia is an exploration type familia. These are groups that the gods create to simulate having families. They can't have children, so they did this as a substitute." Alfia gave him more knowledge.
"I see, what about the dungeon though?" Lars wanted to know everything.
"We're currently in the deep floors. The 37th floor and below onwards. The 1st to 12th are called the upper floors for newbies." Alfia started teaching him.
"The 13th to 24th are middle ones, 25th to 36th are lower floors. From there on, it's just called the deep floors. And a single monster here could kill you in a heartbeat." Alfia stated as a matter of fact.
Lars gulped and it suddenly sunk in why there were no monsters in this place.
"So we're in a safe point huh?" He shuddered, thinking of being in a place where monsters spawned.
And he was in the deep floors too, where endgame adventurers are supposed to be.
Not just strong ones, strong people in groups. Or they'll be overrun and killed.
"You are quite smart for being so young." Alfia looked at him with interest.
"Ehhh, just simple logic and reasoning." Lars started sweating a bit.
They then went quiet again. And Lars noticed that Alfia was brooding.
"Hey, Alfia. If you got here, you must be an amazing adventurer right?" Lars asked her and she nodded.
"Then can you teach me how to be a good one?" Lars requested of her.
"Teach you, huh?" Alfia has never thought of teaching someone one on one.
She has taught some people, but not too the point where they'll be here protege.
'He is weird... He doesn't know about the dungeon, but he lives here casually.' Alfia got suspicious about his origins.
'Was he born here? Did he got abandoned? Did his parents die?' She had too many questions, not enough answers.
She was a naturally anxious person behind her calm exterior.
And Lars being there screams suspicious. He even has a log cabin. Though she destroyed it.
"Sure, I will teach you everything..." Alfia accepted his request.
'I have nothing to lose anyway. And he is naturally durable, will he be strong?' Alfia looked at his smiling face with a curious gaze.
"First, you will have to recover." Alfia looked at his body that was covered in splints.
His clothes were also ragged, and he didn't have a spare.
"Yeah... I do." Lars frowned with a sigh. "I... I am sorry." Alfia winced.
"It's fine... You just have to make up for it. I mean, I saved your life." He gave a cheeky smile at her.
She snorted, amused by his nonchalant attitude.
Alfia; the incarnation of talent, monster of calamitous talent, Silence.
A heaven defying mortal that could destroy entire cities with her magic. And she is being held back by a debilitating disease.
'But now... I don't feel it. That painful curse, the disease that Meteria and I were born with.' Alfia clenched her hands.
It was an unknown disease. Something that made her and her sister's life miserable.
Every time she fought, she would be in agony. And the only thing that could keep it at bay is some branches from a sacred tree that the elves protect with their life.
An absolute monster that fought while cursed. Poisoned, paralyzed, dysfunctional, while in battle. But she is one of the most powerful combatants of all time.
It was like fighting a disabled person with polio, asthma, and cancer. And they beat the shit out of you without any problem.
'What exactly did he give me?' Alfia looked at Lars who was stuffing his face with food from the dungeon.
And she wasn't imagining it, he was recovering due to it.
'I don't... Deserve this.' Alfia furrowed her brows.
"Hey, Alfia. Come on, you must be hungry." Lars took out some of the square tomatoes from his inventory.
Coupled with the violet lettuce and other kinds of leafy greens. Making a dungeon salad.
"I'll call this, the deep dungeon salad. Pretty appropriate, right?" He laughed and Alfia had a smidgeon of a smile on her face.
"So noisy..." She flicked him on the forehead as she took the food.
'So simple... Yet so delicious.' She was wrecked by different kinds of emotions.
Happy, that she was free from her accursed chains. Sad, knowing her friend is dead. Regret and longing, for her twin sister who could barely function due to their disease.
And hope, that their sacrifice to strengthen the adventurers of Orario will give her nephew a life where he won't need to pick up a weapon.
Where they would grow and finish what they couldn't finish. A looming threat that will release pandemonium all over the world.
'Lars... I have been given a second chance. Something I do not deserve. Then what should I do besides get stronger? Even more so than captain.' Alfia thought of the captain of their familia.
The strongest adventurer that has ever lived in modern times; the empress.
"Level 9... No, level 10. I will reach it with this new body and life. Wait and see." Alfia promised.
"Hmm? What are you mumbling about?" Lars gave her a weird look.
"Ahhh, I'm thinking of how to repay you. Your elixir must be very important." Alfia knows it.
That thing must be the most valuable potion in the whole world. And nothing will be able to top it.
Even the philosopher's stone of the great sage centuries ago can't top it. As a top adventurer, she could feel it.
She was literally reborn, leaving behind her former shell.
And without her debilitating disease, she is easily a high level 8 combatant. A world defining person.
After the fall of the two strongest familias, the Zeus and Hera familias. You can count level 6 adventurers with your hands.
There are only two official level 7's in the world after Alfia's friend sacrificed himself as a stepping stone.
If she steps outside the dungeon once again, nobody will be able to stop her.
"Ohh, then how about we form a familia? A nice little group of adventurers." Lars thought about it.
"A familia huh? I'm still with that hysterical bitch Hera." Alfia definitely disliked her goddess.
"Ohh, will that be a problem?" Lars tilted his head and Alfia remembered that he doesn't know how this works.
"She needs to release me. Or I won't be able to receive another god's falna." Alfia explained.
"Ohh, but why was the mark on your back getting transparent earlier?" Lars revealed.
"What?" Alfia blinked, that's not supposed to happen.
She then chanted something, her enchantment magic. "Ataraxia.
Magic covered her body, covering her in anti magic armor.
It confused her greatly, because when falna disappears. It should lock one's status.
Meaning, she won't be able to use any of her magics, or skills.
Unknowingly, two of her skills also changed due to the change on her soul.
She then grinned. She couldn't feel it, her connection with her foul goddess.
"It doesn't matter, Lars. Recover quickly, I will be teaching you everything I know." Alfia was suddenly in a good mood.
"Okay~" He continued eating his veggies and fruits.
Not really knowing the shit she was about to put him through.
__
Thanks for reading everyone, and yes. The elixir is a plot device, problem? Anyways, ciao.
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