Ruby stood next to the entrance of the cave, her sword drawn, and in a ready stance.
She was not going to allow anyone to enter, as that might cause Salem's class up to fail.
As she began her long, arduous wait, she began wondering what Salem would do once he came out.
'I wonder if he'd go straight to classing up his Necromancy or if he'd want to leave this world.' She made sure she was not too absorbed into her thoughts as that may put Salem in danger.
After five minutes of waiting, she began hearing groans from the hole. Knowing that his class up was very likely different from any other known class, she ignored it and hoped he'd get through the class up soon.
Shortly after, those grunts and groans of pain turned into screams and shouts of torture and suffering. She wanted nothing more than to jump into the hole abd hold Salem until his class up was comlplete, but that might cause his class up to fail, so she stayed in place.
As Salem was wailing in pain, another sound came from the hole. A swishing sound that gradually grew in intensity.
She felt the familiar itch of curiosity, but she didn't scratch it. The itch kept growing in intensity and she finally gave in and turned to see what it was.
Behind her she saw a massive cloud of nanobots coalescing into a cloud. The cloud then changed colours and shifted into the shape of Salem when he was wearing his cloak, wings, and holding his scythe.
The figure grew until it was over five hundred meters tall, pointed at the city, and drew a finger accross its throat.
It swung its scythe vertically and sent a wave of darkness to cover the city, before dissapating as if it had never been there.
Salem's screams stopped as soon as the cloud of nanobots dispersed.
Taking it as a sign it was done, Ruby jumped down into the hole to go and see how Salem was doing.
Once inside the cave, she silently marveled at the destruction caused by the nanomachines. The pillars were mostly eroded, the floor was covered in dimples, and the ceiling looked like it had rusted for years, yet didn't have any signs of rust.
Salem lay bleeding from his eyes, mouth, and nose in the midst of the worst part of the destruction.
She ran to him and slid her thighs beneath his head while she waited for him to wake up.
It frustrated her to no end that she couldn't help, but she could only resign herself to waiting for him to wake up.
She comforted herself by stroking Salem's hair, until Alina came down with blankets. Together, they laid a blanket beneath Salem and placed a pillow behind his head.
"I hope he'll wake up soon." Ruby said, stroking Salem's hair once more.
"Me too." Alina agreed.
They sat in silence, expectantly watching for the signs of Salem awakening from his slumber.
They didn't have to wait too long, as about twenty minutes later, he awoke.
"How are you feeling?" Alina asked anxiously.
"Like I got hit by a truck." Salem said.
"Do you plan to class up your Necromancy here too?" Ruby asked.
"Yeah." Salem used his nanobots to clean off the blood from his face. "Just not right now."
Ruby nodded. "I wonder if our arrival here caused changed in the residents." She said, completely off topic, but she wanted to take his mind off of his current situation.
"Like at the end of Solo Leveling." Salem said.
"...What?" Alina asked.
"It's a novel." Salem said. "Magic power in that universe causes changes to the world around it."
"Interesting concept." Alina said. "To think that could apply to us."
Salem tried to get up, but both Ruby and Alina stopped him from doing so.
"I'll take first watch." Alina said, patting Salem's chest. "I'll switch with you in eight hours."
Ruby nodded and snuggled against Salem.
"It's just me and you for a while." Ruby giggled and snuggled closer. "What are yoi going to do to me?"
"Sleep with you." Salem responded, putting an arm around her shoulders and quickly falling asleep.
Ruby pouted, dissapointed he didn't take the opprotunity, but rapidly fell asleep wrapped in Salem's arms.