Bab 40: The Returning Journey
"Now if you ask me what I am most wary of down there, then I have multiple answers for you. Although the Architect is a rather creative guy who I'd love to talk with, and he cooks up various shit that's usually either beautiful or deadly, often both, at least you know what to expect. On the other hand, our fellow delvers are not so predictable. One day you might be fighting side by side like companions out of a legend, and the next you might be stabbed in the back by that very same companion for some piece of loot or a bunch of Monster Cores. You know what they say, humans are fickle beings."
-Words said by one of the veteran delvers, 45 AA
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Marilyn opened her eyes and sat up with a groan, pain enveloping her whole being.
"Huh... I am not dead."
What greeted her sight was the very same room where she fought and was prepared to die in, a crystal shining with blue light being as bright as ever above her.
Marilyn checked out her condition and immediate surroundings. She herself was covered in bandages, and her armor was taken off, allowing Marilyn to see that her whole body was covered in various bandaged wounds: big and small.
Just as she jerked at the unsafe feeling of being unarmored, she heard a familiar voice, along with noticing Anna who was sitting near her, with her back supported by a tree trunk.
"Finally awake I see."
Anna's voice was rather quiet as if moving her chest pained her greatly.
"Yeah... Are you alright? Did we win?"
Anna chuckled in response, her face scrunching up in pain, before responding.
"...Shit that hurts. Well, if you could call having almost every rib cracked alright, then yeah, I am fine."
The ranger then revealed her ribcage, which had armor removed, only being protected by light cloth. Marilyn flinched as the skin was revealed to be covered in bruises in various shades of red and purple.
"As for whether we won? I dunno."
"What do you mean? Did those... Birds get the wolves."
"That's the fun part. They didn't. The two fuckers survived and could've easily ripped us apart, as you were unconscious, Leo got cut as well, and me... You can see how I turned out."
Anna then briefly stared somewhere beyond the treeline opposite of her, toward the shadows beyond.
"Well, the white one apparently decided to go back and lick its wounds and left us alone. The black one followed after. And so, Leo passed out, you passed out, and I had to look after you two for quite a bit."
Marilyn furrowed her brows. The two beasts were clearly intelligent and capable of making rational decisions. But what unsettled her most was that they fought seemingly the same beasts twice. The two wolves looked the same and acted the same as the ones they killed. Marilyn thought of this and asked.
"Anna, your party fought these wolves before, right?"
"Yeah, why are you asking?"
"I know it sounds strange, but did the wolves recognize you in any way? How did their behavior differ?"
Anna's face turned serious, brows furrowing as well.
"Now that you mention it... I'm pretty sure the black one did."
"How so?"
"Well, when we fought them together with you, that wolf gunned past most of the rangers straight for me. Took my eye too. I think it may have been unhappy with me taking its eye the previous time."
The woman pointed towards a bandage covering her left eye, a sad smile emerging on her face.
"So, I guess we will need to deal with vengeful and immortal wolves in the near future. Oh, and they can probably also learn from their mistakes. How wonderful."
The conversation then came to a halt, a crackling of a campfire that was between them being the only sound except some distant roars.
Abruptly, Marilyn looked around and noticed something amiss.
"You told Leo didn't die yeah? Where is he then? I don't see him here."
Anna pointed towards the tunnel leading out of the dungeon. "He went out."
Marilyn raised her brows in surprise. "You mean he abandoned us? Leopold isn't the one to do such things."
"Nah, once he woke up before you he stood up and told me that he would get his party to help us get out of here, as the two of us aren't really in a state to do so."
"But I thought that those cow- I mean our teammates ran away?"
"Well, he said that they were told to get out and wait for him outside. Apparently, it wasn't the first time he had to finish things on his own. But his guys are a reliable bunch."
Marilyn could only snort at such praise, remembering her own 'teammates' who ran away without looking back once an opportunity was present. She wished she had a better eye for people.
Still, now there was nothing to do but wait for Leopold to return. In her boredom, Marilyn recalled the power she gained by absorbing the crystal of the white wolf, and how she used it in a different way during their 'rematch'.
So far she had learned to let it out in a burst, to make a blinding flash of light. But she clearly remembered how when she fought barehanded in her anger at the betrayal, the woman had gained a boost in power with light enveloping her fists.
Although back then it was some kind of a subconscious application of it, Marilyn understood the usefulness of such a thing and tried to use it on her own. To do so, she tried to feel that warmth, that mana within herself.
It took her a while, but vaguely, she felt a faint sensation of that mana, as if another heart pulsed within her weakly. This sensation seemed to be most prevalent within her heart.
Enchanted by the newly discovered feeling, she subconsciously directed it to her arm. Upon noticing how light rapidly gathered on it, it was too late. Light flashed out, and blinded her upon catching her unprepared.
As Marilyn groaned, covering her eyes, she also felt a curse-filled shout from her side.
"Ah, shit! Marilyn! Warn me when you try to do your parlor tricks again! I only have one eye left, I don't want to go completely blind!"
"Sorry!"
Marilyn then gradually regained her sight, and sure enough, Anna glared at her with anger. She then vowed to be more careful and warn Anna beforehand, in case the ranger tried to 'even out their eye count'.
This time Marilyn tried to go about sensing and manipulating mana more slowly, trying not to get lost in the wondrous sensation, consciously and slowly moving it. To her annoyance, the mana seemed to be stubborn, and it was hard to move it without relying on instinct.
Although she already knew that she was no mage, Marilyn refused to just give up on controlling her new power. And so, slowly and gradually, Marilyn followed the currents of mana flowing within her, gently trying to push it where she wanted it.
Eventually, after an unknown amount of struggle, she slowly managed to push a small amount of that new kind of mana toward her fist without letting it erupt in a flash. As a reward for her efforts, all that she got was a weak glow on the surface of her skin, with no feeling of newfound strength present.
In turn, Marilyn now had to wipe her sweat-soaked brows and deal with a pounding headache that she had gained, the effort far outweighing the reward. She laid down on her back once again, feeling lethargic despite waking up recently.
Anna watched her in schadenfreude, at Marilyn's attempts at mastering the magic or whatever that was because of all the times she almost blinded her with that light, and totally not because Anna herself didn't get any cool new powers.
So, the two women continued to wait and rest, one injured and one exhausted. Thankfully they didn't have to wait for that long, as they soon found the familiar sound of footsteps upon grass, and saw Leo walking towards them along with a few people.
Other than the rogue himself, four other people followed him. Marilyn recognized all of them, three of the four were members of Leopold's squad, but the last person surprised her.
"Beatrice?"
Indeed, the last of them was the rather timid healer girl who was formerly a part of Marilyn's party. To be honest, with her timid personality, Marilyn expected the girl to be the most likely one to run away, certainly not returning into the danger zone.
The girl in question seemed to notice her gaze and started to fidget awkwardly.
"H-hi again M-Marilyn."
"I didn't expect you to return, Beatrice."
An awkward silence then hung, which was then interrupted by a member of Leo's party, a ranger among them, if one didn't count Leo who was more of a rogue. Said, man ruffled Beatrice's hair much to her bewilderment, and said.
"Eh, don't intimidate the kid! You should've seen how she was trembling in her boots after getting out!"
Along with Beatrice's face rapidly reddening, he continued.
"Haha! But then she worked up the courage and said 'Let me join you! I can't leave Mary behind!' Were she a boy I would've thought she has fallen for you!"
Beatrice, whose face was now completely red, buried her face in her robes, other members started to laugh as well, causing even Marilyn to chuckle. Leopold, however, had as stoic a face as ever, making it impossible to guess what was going on in his head. Instead, he waited for everyone to calm down before saying his part.
"The path to the surface is clear. We will escort you. We depart in an hour."
Perhaps he noticed that the women were exhausted, or maybe on a whim, one would never know.
While the boisterous party of three and Marilyn found some common topics to speak and laugh about, Anna awkwardly sat under the tree, any laugh costing her a pang of pain. She then looked toward Beatrice who stood to the side, and called out.
"Hey, you. Beatrice, right?"
The healer jerked her head up and noticed Anna. She slowly nodded.
"So I suppose you're a mage, right? Mind fixing me up?"
Beatrice then noticed the various marks of injury on Anna, and hurried over, all while mumbling about 'How could I not notice' and 'I am a worthless healer'. She then sat down on her knees, and gently connected her palms with Anna's stomach, starting to channel her mana.
As a green light enveloped her hands, various cuts quickly closed up and bruised skin regained its natural color. More serious wounds like broken ribs required direct contact not to waste mana, which resulted in yet another awkward moment, but the two got through it somehow.
Beatrice then also healed up Marilyn before exhausting her mana and sitting down to rest as well.
However, the promised hour soon passed and Leopold once again showed up from only he knew where, along with a single sentence.
"Let's get moving."
Rather reluctantly yet swiftly, everyone packed up and began to follow the rogue out of the boss room, much to Anna's relief, who swore they were being observed and said that it would be best to move before the wolves changed their mind.
With Leopold in front, the worn and torn party didn't face much trouble getting through the First Floor. To be fair they could just fight their way through whatever they came across, but they have already fought too much down here. So, the rogue led them around anything hostile that they may have otherwise encountered.
Upon exiting through the opening leading outside, they were once again greeted by the sight of a tree towering above them, and surprisingly, lush grass and green trees, which looked as if the fire never happened. However, if one walked further away, the greenery gave way to ashes once again, with only sprouts emerging from the burnt ground.
"Is it just me or is this some dungeon fuckery again?"
As Anna looked with a rather tired eye, pointing towards the lush grass near the tree, she once again got the answer from the talkative ranger, who was named Rob.
"Well, I guess you could say that. A funny story: while we were waiting outside, we were quite literally watching grass grow. If you cut some near the tree it grows back damn near instantly."
Anna glanced back at the tree and the opening that they were quickly leaving behind them as they walked.
"This place is the most dangerous and at the same time the most bizarre one I've ever been in."
"That's for sure, lady, that's for sure."
The group of seven walked along the forest which was recovering from the fire which Onheim and his goons had caused, talking all the while.
"Where did the other two go? You know, from Marilyn's party."
"They ran away, what else? The cowards said that they ain't going to rescue dead people. Pathetic. When we get back to Ol' Cypress, you three are probably going to be listed as dead."
"That's going to be a pain to explain. For them and for us."
Eventually, the forest was left behind, the sun shining from above, the heat being unbearable although it was August. With no shade from the trees, it was a rather unpleasant experience.
Anna, however, hit it off with Rob who had a lot of stories to share, being a member of one of the most unpredictable exploration teams.
"So like, what made you believe that Leopold would come out alive, even though you saw how overwhelmed we were?"
"Cause we have seen what he can do. Oh! There was that one time when we were scouting out a monster nest, yeah? So he was all like 'I'm going to scout ahead'."
Anna chuckled at the botched impression.
"And then he comes back to us, covered in blood, saying that we will return back to the town. When we ask why, he says that the monster boss was too weak to waste the effort of the squad, so he took it on by himself. Tsk tsk. Do you believe it?"
The image indeed fit what she knew about Leopold, so Anna listened further.
"Then we come in, and everything's slaughtered, boss's head cut clean off. I'm telling you, our Leo is badass. Oh, and there was also that time when we..."
Eventually, the other members of the party also joined in the storytelling, telling of their explorations and hunts, only Leo himself silently leading the way, the barest of hints of a smile tugging on his lips, and even that was concealed by his facemask.
As the sun was setting on the horizon, shadows lengthening and orange glow enveloping the earth, the walls in the middle of aged ruins greeted the party of seven in the distance. Eager to get back home, they sped up their pace.
Upon reaching the gates they walked in just as it was closing for the night. Rob, being like he was, loudly thanked the guards for letting them in.
Most of the city was now quiet, only the occasional glow of a candle being visible through the windows. As the electricity was mostly unavailable, generators and fuel for them being a luxury, the towns that could boast of nightlife thirty-six years ago, were now covered in darkness and silence.
Thankfully their destination was the Magic Tower, and unfortunately for the workers of it, it was open 24/7.
Rob took the lead and opened the doors to it, speaking out with a loud voice.
"Wakey wakey Laura! Time to earn your pay!"
As for the target of his greeting, the party soon saw a receptionist with her head face-down on a desk, her black hair sprawled all over it. And then, groaning like an undead woken from her slumber, she lifted her face with an equally dead expression.
"Rob? That you? Damn it, give me a second."
Laura then fumbled in her desk, before taking out a flint and lighting a pair of candles that were present on the desk. Following that, she looked at the arrivals and said groggily.
"Hello and welcome to the magic tower how may I help you..."
Focusing on some of them, however, she exclaimed.
"Wait, Anna is that you?! I thought you were dead!"
She abruptly stood up from her chair and seemed to be prepared to leap over the desk. But in her attempt to do so, her long her passed by a candle and caught on fire.
After a series of curses and frantic extinguishing, the receptionist calmed down and asked her friend who she thought was dead in a more reserved manner.
"So, uh, Anna, I'm really glad to see you, but I genuinely thought you were dead. Stacy really looked like she was about to kill someone and Johann was all gloomy after it was reported. But, seeing how you're..."
Laura glanced at Anna's covered eye.
"...More or less fine, do you mind telling me what happened that only half of the expedition returned?"
Instead of Anna, Marilyn answered, as she was supposed to be some kind of leader.
"Well, it is kind of a long story, and you may want to call the higher-ups for it."
At the mention of the higher-ups, Laura's expression sank.
"Do you really need me to wake them? Especially the Tower Master? Please, I want to live a little longer!"
Seeing the serious looks on the faces opposite her, Laura sat down dejectedly.
"Fine... Don't expect them to be happy though."
Status Power Mingguan
-- Peringkat
Power 
-- Power
stone