A woman was sleeping deeply and without disturbance, wearing a shirt that did not match the size of her mature figure, creating seductive tightness around her ample bosom, while her beautiful long legs were bare without cover.
A while later, she slowly opened her clear blue eyes, blinking several times before gazing at the unfamiliar ceiling. She straightened up her lead-like body and realized she also wore unfamiliar clothing.
Then, while still feeling drained, she looked around and could see the same unfamiliar wooden chair and table, as well as a kitchenette. The wall had no window or decoration, and was made from a thick...drapery? This room definitely not hers, mainly because of how tidy it was and no scattered clothes on the floor.
Having said that, the bed she was on and blanket were pleasantly comfortable, the pair was urging her to go back to sleep. Thus, she decided to willingly follow their calling and resume sleeping...
"Wait! That's not it!" the woman was now fully awake after comprehending the unusual situation she was in. The dream world she longed for would have to wait.
The woman put both hands on her head, trying to recall every single detail, she was reaching deep into her memories, especially on how she ended in here. Finally, the forgotten memory came back to her.
The Association gave her a quest to investigate a town destroying stampede. She could have brought a partner but decided to investigate it alone.
The next day, she arrived in that town, though she called it a town, many buildings were turned to rubble, and only a handful of structures were still intact. At the same time, many bodies of the victims remained on the street unattended. People that survived were filled with grieve and despair. The town was at its lowest point, and if no impactful relief action was done immediately, she was sure the town would cease to exist in near future.
The woman remembered having talks with the survivors, it was really a challenge to get them to say anything since the atmosphere was pack-full of desolation. Afterward, she went to the forest.
"Ah, that horrible dragon..." her head suddenly twitching in pain, and she was greatly annoyed.
Yes, there was a one-sided battle, even though the woman was quite confident in her magic mastery, everything she threw on that giant lizard had disgustingly no effect whatsoever. A shame, it's frustrating. She had still a long way to go to become platinum-ranked.
".... The thing...."
That boulder. The only time her magic successfully landed was after a giant, flying boulder surrounded by bluish light smashed into the dragon, breaking its metallic skin and rendering it immobile for a while. The dragon fell, defeated. Simultaneously, due to running out of mana and severe wounds she was struck with tremendous pain and lost consciousness.
..... The woman was lost in thought. After a while, she opened her palm and try to produce a magic sphere, and succeeded in making a melon-sized ball of magic energy, contrary to her expectation.
The next second, the sphere emitted a cold air, afterward electricity, next a breeze, and lastly a flame. With this activity, it was confirmed her mana recovered. Her action looked simple, but changing elements was difficult and required vivid imagination. The majority of people could only use one element, whereas the woman had mastered four elements, and she was still planning to add more element to her repertoire.
"....I can activate my magic..?"
The woman rejoiced of course. But, puzzled at the same time, because in the battle with the dragon she emptied her mana to perform successive fusion magic.
Emptying one's mana was dangerous as it damaged a person's magic circuit. In the worst case, the person died. If not, only time would tell whether someone could use magic once more or not, it could be days, weeks, months, or years. As a wizard, that was worse than death. Well, not really, if magic was no longer an option she just needed to learn new skills.
"...it doesn't hurt...?"
She touched the places where her broken arm and fractured ribs were. There were scars, and the surface felt rough. Yet, it was hardly visible and... strangely, healed? Huh? Though slightly stiff, the woman could freely move her arm and body without followed by any stinging soreness, and, after a series of stretching, even skillfully did a backflip flawlessly.
"...Impressive..." her magic and body were in top shape already, making her wonder how long had it been since the incident with the dragon? Could this kind of recovery be possible within mere days? No answers came to her because no one was there to give her what she wanted to hear. Thus, the woman decided to find whoever owned this place and rescued her to get the answer. Most of all, to express her heartfelt gratitude.
She strode gracefully to the only visible exit in the room. However, when she was about to reach it, the woman stopped her step and smelled a pleasant aroma drifting in the air, and realized there was food on the table, which she failed to notice at first.
The food was an egg omelet with avocado spread on toast, a banana, and a glass of water and chocolate milk. The woman could not take her eyes off the prepared meal, and the neat visualization glued her eyes to it even further. In addition, there was a note next to it; -Eat-.
Despite the note, eating something without knowing the maker and ingredients was dangerous. It was common sense. Possibly, even poisoned. But, poisoning someone that he or she just saved sounded... weird? When the woman still wondered what to do, she saw a second note behind the first; -Not poisoned-.
...Was the person who saved her able to see the future? The note was hilariously accurate.
Still, she must not give in to....A rumbling sound suddenly echoed throughout the room loudly, startling her greatly. Was it a monster? No, far from it. The origin of that sound was from her demanding stomach. At that moment, she found the third note; -Enjoy-.
"...Thank you for the food" said the woman without a shred of hesitation. Her mind was clear, she was clearly hungry, and no one could fight on an empty stomach. Someone who said otherwise was full of rubbish. Yes, she was sure of it. She was sure of it now.
She ate and could taste how enjoyable the food was. This was bliss. Never again would she waste any food in her life. If anything bad happened after she finished this food, she could just haunt the person in her next life.