Capítulo 111: She Sets Out For The Dungeon
Chelsea patted Jasmine's shoulder.
"There, there. You can't help that they have the mental attention span of a two year old. Besides, they surely didn't mean any harm when they mixed those two potions by accident."
"Hmmph!" Jasmine didn't say any more, but she let it be known plainly that she was unconvinced.
Robin paused, warmly watching her group as they interacted. They were all very different from each other. Yet, somehow, they had joined together on her journey to seek her way home.
Reflecting upon the past six years, Robin realized it had indeed been a very long time since she could laugh so heartily. The days, though they had passed so slowly, seemed like such a short time, now. It was as if, she had arrived only yesterday.
Robin had begun to feel somewhat reluctant to leave the warm friends she had gained here, in order to return to the cold world she came from. Robin sighed a bit. Yes, she would miss this world, these people. That is why it was especially important to treasure every moment while it lasted.
'In the end, I am just a passerby.' Robin thought, as she added yet another treasure to her memories. 'I can never be as close as those who actually have to live here.'
She constantly reminded herself of this, because she was also afraid that she might end up giving up, deciding to stay. But, she could not forget her older brother. After all the things he had done to save her, Robin would be torn with guilt for the rest of her life, if she allowed him to believe she was dead, or worse.
And so, Robin once more put up her mental barrier. She could have fun and enjoy their company, but she mustn't allow herself to get attached. Robin pet Skye upon the head as she thought to herself.
"Um, you know, earlier, when you were splitting up the teams, you forgot to mention which team I am in." Chelsea told Christian.
"Did I? Er...Which team did you want to be on?" Christian asked.
"Put me in the less-boring team, please?" Chelsea asked.
"Robin's team it is." Christian noted.
"Hey, how come she gets to go!?" Jasmine pouted.
"Because she's harmless." Christian replied, thinking. 'There's no sign that she's as dim-wittedly head over heels for Robin like you are.' What Christian didn't know was that he was wrong on several key details.
First, Robin was not falling for Jasmine. Second, Jasmine was not falling for Robin. The reason was because Robin was actually female, and keeping mum about it to avoid awkward romantic advances while trying to find her way home. Fourth, Robin was not romantically attracted to anyone at the moment. And, fifth, his actions were entirely unnecessary.
Chelsea, the only person who knew the entire situation of misunderstandings, could only roll her eyes and chuckle from the sidelines. As both sides had employed her to keep silent, she was faithful to her promise.
...At the very least...she would wait until the time was right to 'accidentally' reveal key information.
Robin, unaware of Christian's petty 'friend possessiveness', assumed he was referring to Jasmine's desire to study the super health potion's ingredients.
"Ah."
Robin could imagine it. If their group came under attack while Jasmine slowly analyzed whatever local flora/fauna was responsible for the effects of super potion, it would be highly dangerous. She had also heard about the impending monster stampede that would be due to come.
It was also a bad idea to use large scale spells in the cavern areas, as it might cause tunnel collapse. Thus, she opted to bring the healer in place of the magician.
"Hmmm...All right, then. But you need to stick close, okay?" She warned Chelsea.
"Yay! I get to spend more time with Robin~!" Chelsea giggled. Christian immediately regretted his decision to put Chelsea in Robin's group. At least Jasmine wasn't openly speaking about her attraction to Robin.
Jasmine glared at Christian for singling her out and separating her from the girls group. Then she sighed, and passed a water crystal over to Chelsea.
"If anything happens at all, I want you to contact me. Understood?"
"Yup! Will do!" Chelsea nodded enthusiastically. She didn't know if they would need it, but it was a good thing to have just in case. Although, judging from what she had seen of the future, it seemed that none of them would come to great harm, one could never be too sure...
---
The next morning, the group split in two, one to try and access the map in the castle library, and the other to request to see the military map from Sir Drago.
Christian's team consisted of Jasmine, Keith, Ponzu, Gerard, Elise, and the carriage driver. Robin's team, which consisted of her, Chelsea, the knights, and Skye, headed for the caverns dungeon. They were extra alert on their way, having heard of the iminent monster stampede.
"What kind of monsters do you think there'l be?" Chelsea asked.
"Well, what kind of monster usually lives in caverns? maybe some kind of reptilian or digging monster?" Robin guessed.
"Usually. There's also spider and bug monsters." Chelsea added.
"Actually, that reminds me. I hope you don't take this the wrong way, but what is the difference between demonkind and monsters?" Robin asked.
"No offense taken. I actually get asked that a lot more often than you think~!" Chelsea chuckled.
"Well, as you may know, there is ambient mana all around us." Chelsea began. "The elemental mana, when it is concentrated enough, can aide a regular animal into slowly changing themselves to adapt to the environment. Those who slowly go through the long process of change eventually end up as an intelligent race. Then they gradually become closer and closer to humankind, until only a few main identifying features are left. These intelligent races are known as demon-kind. They are the ones you can communicate with using speech."
"I see...Then what about monsters?" Robin asked.
"Ambient mana is not spread equally across the world. every so often, you run into sudden concentrated pockets full of mana. If there is nothing there, then nothing happens. But if, upon the formation of the pocket, there are animals in the surroundings, the sudden concentration becomes too much for their animal psyche to handle. They go mad trying to expel the concentrated foreign mana."
"Animals on steroids, huh." Robin noted.
"The sad part is that they can't go back once they reach that state. That aside, monster meat is far more delicious than regular meat, and can even be used in alchemical potions, due to its high mana content." Chelsea finished.
"Wouldn't that ambient mana stuff make eating monster meat dangerous?" Robin asked.
"No. Oddly enough, after the monster absorbs it, it becomes completely safe to consume!" Chelsea smacked her lips. "Ah, that monster bull meat I ate once was simply the best!! Hey, if we kill any monsters, let's cook them!"
"Let's see what kind of monsters there are, first." Robin chuckled.
"Ah, also,keep an eye out for any shiny crystals on the way. Those are called dungeon crystals. Dungeon crystals are the crystalized essence of the ambient mana, and are the best ingredient to add to magic jewelry."
"Got it. Will do." Robin chuckled. "But, in all honesty, you'll be the most likely person to be in a situation where you can pick it up if we get besieged."
"Ara, I hadn't thought of that. You're quite right!" Chelsea nodded. "I will grab all opportunities, then."
Due to the fact that the carriage was being repaired, they had to walk. There also weren't any carriages going out that day, as people were apprehensive about the impending monster stampede. It wasn't a short walk to the dungeon, but, then again, it wasn't too long a walk, either.
They found themselves drawing near the dungeon entrance in the late afternoon. As they got closer, they began to hear sounds of monster cries, and clashing metal. Aware that a fight was up ahead, they picked up the pace, all the time becoming more and more cautious.
When they came in sight of the dungeon entrance, they paused in surprise. Indeed, there were soldiers and swordsman at battle against the oncoming horde of dungeon monsters. But, the fight wasn't what surprised them.
The monsters that were pouring out of the large cavern mouth was a horde of large wild boars. Robin watched a moment, then turned to Chelsea.
"Cavern boars? Is that even possible?" She asked, in disbelief.
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