After having a good night of sleep, my head feels a lot lighter and I'm ready to explore the outside world.
But before that I take another look at Ruyk.
Hmm... done.
Now let's get out of here.
What? Are you curious in how is he? Ok, ok, I will tell you.
I approach Ruyk who is being taken care of by Blue. It seems like he is still sleeping. I put my hand in his forehead to feel his temperature but....Oh no! why is it so cold? Is he dead? Oh! The metal glove! Of course!
Ok, I take out the metal gloves and put my hand in his forehead...
"Hot..."
It seems like he has a bit of fever. But that's common, since he is hurt and all. It's proof that his body is fighting for his life.
I take a look at the wounds...ugly :/
They are a bit darker than yesterday, but at least there is no pus.
I wish there was a doctor to see him, but it's very unlikely I will find any willing to help. A priest or a healer would also work, but even then chances are quite small...
I had searched for creatures with healing magic to summon, but not only I got not enough mana, most of them require some rare herbs I never heard about.
"Good job, Blue! Keep it up! Make sure he drinks a lot of water...."
Blue smiles at me and nods his head, and starts conjuring water.
The water bubble grows and grows...
"But please don't drown him!"
and stop growing and starts shrinking a bit.
I put back my gloves and then put my hand on the Dungeon Core and say.
"Teleport, first floor."
...
I arrive on the first floor, where I'm greeted by Aqua and Marine. The two surround me as soon as I appear and start circling me.
"Good Morning to you as well. Have you two watered the plants?"
Both of them nod in unison.
"Great. I'm going out, do you want to came with me?"
Both of them nod in unison frenetically.
"Ok, ok, calm down. Then let's go together."
Taking out my war hammer from the storage, I walk toward the entrance with the two in toe.
...
Finally out of the cave, I take a look up and see a beautiful blue sky.
It feels so big, so overwhelming, that I started to understand how the Cave Dwarfs feel. After months in a cave, when one looks at this huge sky, it really feels like gravity would invert it's direction and we would fall toward the sky.
Ok, time to look for clues...
Considering they ran away in a hurry, it shouldn't be too hard to trace where they came from...
Found it!
It seems like the magic I fired yesterday had done plenty of damage on them, as several drops of blood forming a path were plainly visible.
So I started following the blood trail down the mountain.
On my side Aqua and Marine were zigzagging between the trees and other plants, full of energy.
30 minutes...
45 minutes...
55 minutes...
1...d-damn..h..hour....
Damn Sun, I am tired!
How come I am so tired?
Sure, I'm walking a mountain path in a full plate armor, carrying a war hammer. But when I was inside the Dungeon, no matter how much I walked, ran or jumped, I never got tired. I was thinking it had something to do with this body, like it was immune to tiredness or something... but it seems like it was effect of the Dungeon instead...
Oh, damn it, so, tired...
Aqua, or maybe it was Marine, sorry I can't really distinguish between the two, they look like identical twins. Anyway, one of the baby sprites came to me.
"Come! Come!"
It was trying to take me somehow...What to do? If I leave here I may end up lost...
I know! Let's mark the way!
"Lead the way, little one."
Using my War Hammer, I lightly hit the trees as I walked, leaving a mark so I could head back later.
Another two minutes following the Sprite, I started hearing a water sound, like a river.
Another two minutes and sure enough, I was able to see the river.
Finally a few minutes later, I saw a clearing by the river, where I could comfortably take a break and wash my feet in the river.
I look around, this place was not only beautiful but ideal for a river bath. If this was a novel, I could bet my armor there would be some beautiful heroine now bathing waiting for me to take a peek.
Unfortunately, reality is never so kind. The only naked bodies I could see where Aqua and Marine spirit bodies as well as the fishes swimming up and down the stream...
5 minutes...
10 minutes...
30 minutes...
Yup...no ecchi event today. Maybe I should try again tomorrow? Who knows, maybe the flag is visiting a second time, or maybe It's during night time?
After drinking a bit of water and resting well enough, I was ready to continue my journey through the forest. I gave good bye to my chuunibyou thoughts and headed back to the trail.
25 minutes...
35 minutes...
40 minutes...
"Hey dad, are we there yet?"
Obviously no one answers me...
But really, I am damn tired.
Although I rested quite a bit in the river, it seems like I didn't rest enough.
Or maybe it's just this full plate armor, weighting 100kg of black steel.
Sure, this body is stronger than normal humans, but this weight is absurd.
I think this is 4-5 times heavier than the human counterpart.
Well, inside the dungeon this doesn't matter. But outside... T_T
So I promised myself to ask for something lighter when I get my own blacksmith...
...
As I walk down the road complaining about everything, I finally see signs of civilization.
No, it was not a house... it was a bathroom...
Well, anyway, I could already smell it, the village should be just ahead!
So I dragged my tired feet on and on...
Just a little more...just a little...more...
Pff...
I fell.
Ah...ha....a....ha.....a....ha.....(heavy breathing sound)
Ok.... let's rest here for a bit....
Soon, I hear the sound of kids talking, they seem to be heading my way...
But I was too tired to care, I couldn't move a muscle, so, I kept on resting...
"So, as I was saying, I saw a fish thiiiiiiiis big in the river lake!"
"No way Tom, the only fishes there are as big as my hand!"
"But it's true! Look, let's make a bet. I will take you there and show you the fish, if it is at least twice your hand you lend me your fishing rod for a week."
"Sure, but if I win, you-"
"Kyaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaa!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!"
"May, what's wrong?"
"Look! There! Sir knight is dead!!!!"
No, little lady, I'm just too tired to move...