- - -
[Unknown languages will be translated automatically by the "System"]
- - -
There was no way I was going to escape... but there was a chance in one of the things I haven't used yet.
It's a long shot. My thought process was reduced to a minimum, every word spoken here is processed in milliseconds. I am not able to do much, my options are limited.
I will survive, and surely she will too, of that there is no doubt.
I grab the woman by the wrist, and without uttering a single word, I make all the magical energy in my body flow under my feet. Every last drop.
- - -
["Chaotic Magic" has been activated. First level spell, "Tartarus"]
- - -
-Son of a bitch! -. My attacker exclaims, watching as a beam of light surrounds us for a second before expanding enormously.
An earthquake begins. The subsoil splits in two. The whole sea moves wildly, carrying the palm trees on its way to the huge crack that is forming under our feet.
The woman then releases me, draws a sword in an attempt to brace herself on the ground, but it is useless as the force of nature overcomes her by far.
We are both consumed by the huge crack, in a spiral of all the things that were on the first floor and the one below it. But impressively, the earthquake still doesn't stop.
The open crack gets deeper and deeper. The things we both had on us are gone with the current that engulfs us.
I'm sure she's able to survive, so there's no problem with her doing this.
I'm sure she's capable of surviving, so there's no problem with her doing this. Got to think about what I should do after we finish going down.
----[X minutes later]
I certainly realise that I made a big mistake. I have no idea how much time we spent going down, but from what I counted, we descended a total of 12 floors?
That means we are now located on [Floor 14] of the dungeon. We are both lying on the floor, with tons of rubble around us. The big crack in the ceiling is unreachable height for a normal person's hand.
Along the way we picked up ice, monsters, rocks, structures and whatever else there was. I didn't get any experience points as I didn't kill anything directly.
We were sifting through a pile of rubbish for who knows how long, and a lot of things got involved that hurt and fractured us. I thought we were going to come out unscathed, but recovering the blood lost from our wounds is going to take a long time.
She even has an arm fractured in three sections. In my case, my neck was broken a couple of times in the course of all this time.
Our clothes are almost completely destroyed. And she lost all the weapons she was carrying along the way.
I'm not dead, but I still have serious wounds that will take time for my body to regenerate. Plus I swallowed too much salt water, so my lungs must be overflowing from it all.
Oh, in time, I felt like throwing up.
-Ggh, agh! I begin my unladylike labour.
I spill a mixture of salt water, debris, blood, gastric juices and the occasional piece of meat I ate earlier onto the floor. It's shameful of me, but I don't stop even then.
Until there is no strength left in my body I stop vomiting. It's a horrendous mixture to tell the truth.
I drop to the floor then. Next to my vomit.
-You... are... crazy... Who... would... think of using... [Chaotic Magic] in a dungeon...?
I can hear this woman's voice... asking me that question.
Tired from vomiting, I can only say to her in a cracked voice...
-I had to... survive... that's all I could think of...
The woman lets out a bitter laugh. She mocks me.
Right now I don't feel like answering her or reproaching her. With all the strength I have left, I get up from the floor...
She then reacts, moving to her left. Even in her pain, she moves away from me.
Ah... that's right, I'm a [Vampire].
Since I can still move, she might think I'm going to attack her or something.
-I wasn't... moving because... of... you. -. I say shakily, as I stand up.
I start breathing through my mouth. The mental exhaustion from using all my [MP] is still taking its toll on me. But I think I'll still be able to do something with my [Recreation].
Sooner rather than later, I improvisationally forge a shield and block the axe blow that was going for this woman's head.
The shield is practically split in two, but I was able to protect her despite that.
Taking no time for breaks, I quickly create a small sword, and lunging at the large green-skinned monster, I manage to pierce its heart with a single thrust. It then collapses to the ground just like that.
That was pretty fast...
-Orcs...? How... did it... get here...? -. The woman's voice is confused.
Ah, I have to do something for her, quickly. I go and approach her, as she turns away from me again with some noticeable fear.
-Calm down. I won't do anything to you. -. I warn her in a relaxed voice.
She realises my true intentions and then lets her guard down a little.
-I'll rip... your throat out if you... try to hurt me.
I don't say anything...
Hey, are you still there?
- - -
[Sure. What do you want?]
- - -
Could you tell me everything you know about this floor? It's number fourteen. Oh, and also, is there any way I can close her wound?
She's going to bleed out if I don't do anything, and I have no intention of attacking her.
- - -
[It's uncharted territory. No one has been able to defeat the Hydra of Water on the second floor until now. There are no records on this floor. As for her wound, she'll be fine, just give her some of her own blood.]
- - -
Mm? Will that work?
How do you know?
- - -
[That white hair... it's obvious who it's about. She's a member of the "Cross Family", most likely the head of this generation]
- - -
Cross Family?
What are they? Some important conglomerate or royalty?
- - -
[The "Cross Family" is a family that has had fourteen generations to date. They are not royalty, however, they are outstanding fighters who with each generation give birth to a "Hero". She has a special ability called "Ambrosia", or also known as "The Blood of God", with which she is able to slay any "Vampire" who takes her, but at the same time, heal any wound no matter how lethal. There are not many more details about this ability]
- - -
I understand.
So, as long as I don't take his blood it's fine.
Just like I didn't feel like trying it, she already threatened my life from the start.
Used [Recreation] I form a small glass vial. I show it to her up close so she can see that it's empty, and that same vial is what I gather her own blood with and then put on her lips.
And that's what gave the final blow to my mental exhaustion, what pushed me straight into immediate fainting.
I just lose consciousness...
----[Olivia Cross's perspective]
It was... strange.
I had never thought that a monster I tried to assassinate saved me from sudden death at the hands of an orc, and even went to the trouble of healing me.
But how did she know about my blood?
She looks too young to have been taught that detail about humanity.
It is true that my most lethal weapon is [Ambrosia], but I'm surprised she didn't try to drink it under her vampire urges. Even when I tried to kill her before I came here.
I didn't have any strength before and my body felt very numb so I couldn't drink my blood much earlier. She would have been dead by then...
All my wounds have healed now... both external and internal. But even though that's over, the pain doesn't go away at all.
And she... just collapsed on top of me after she healed me...
I could kill her now that I have the chance.
But...
-Damn it, it's against my code as a knight. -. I let this comment come out as a complaint.
After all, she saved my life twice. I would have bled to death if all my wounds from the broken bones hadn't healed completely.
And before I kill her... I want to know how the hell she did it.
It's the first time I've seen someone use [Chaotic Magic] without dying in the process. I don't understand how she was able to use it, she would have died of a heart attack because of the [Jinx].
Even if he was a [Vampire], there was no way he would have survived if his heart suddenly exploded.
Besides, for some reason I felt like I was dealing with a person with the brief conversation we had, if you could call it that.
"I had to... survive... that's all I could think of..."
Simple words, but they play an important role in everything that encompasses their meaning.
Mere survival, eh...
I almost certainly would have done the same thing to stay alive.
Though sore, now re-energised, I pick myself up from the floor and lift the child into my arms as well. I can't just leave her here. I owe her life, even though it was in danger in the first place because of her.
I don't know what floor of the dungeon we're on, but if there are orcs here, it means absolutely no good.
Well... it's time for me to take action. In order to identify my surroundings, I activate a unique ability known as [Detection]. There are very few humans who possess it, so it's quite a high factor in terms of strategic utility.
When I activate this ability, all sorts of information regarding my surroundings is gathered in my head.
- - -
[Ecosystem type: Jungle]
[There are 720 enemy readings in the 0.6km range around the user. Minerals and precious stones of high monetary value were detected. There are unopened treasure chests. Secret passages undiscovered. And an undefeated "Boss Monster"]
[The "Map" will be updated with the relative locations of all the above detected items]
- - -
¿720?
Oh, shit. That's too many even for me, who doesn't have a gun with me.
As we were descending, everything I had on me was washed away. I had [Ascalon] and [Devastation Bow] with me, which are a sword and bow with tremendous destructive power. I have to retrieve those weapons no matter what.
And I can't die in this place. It would be regrettable if the current leader of the [Cross Family] perishes in a place like this. So it's best if I go around avoiding fights as best as possible.
Oh, well. I see there's a chest a bit near here, so it would be good to go and have a look at it while I'm around.
My legs are sore, but I can still muster enough strength to run easily.
I think I'm at less than half my ability right now, since I'm a sprinter. But that's still fast enough to go so fast that I can throw several of the monsters off.
Now that I notice it, I find this girl somewhat attractive for some reason... Ah, I don't mean it in that sense, but her dozing face is attractive for her age.
...
I'll just take a look.
- - -
[General Stats]
[Name: "Elise" - Level 1]
[Class: "None"]
[Specialty: "None"]
[Race: Vampire]
[Specimen: Higher Vampire]
[Alter Ego: Nishimiya Saeko - Unregistered]
[Status: Zero Mana - 0.12/369620]
[Skills]
[Vampirism Lvl. 50 | Valuation Lvl. 20]
[Longevity Lvl. 5 | Luck Lvl. 0]
[Immortality Lvl. 5 | Recreation Lvl. 50]
[Night Vision Lvl. 50 | Res. to Status Change Lvl. 50]
[HP Consumption Network Lvl. 50 | Foresight Lvl. 50]
[Future Vision Lvl. 1 | Synergic Vision Lvl. 1]
[Steel Claws Lvl. 50 | Flaming Reinforcement Lvl. 50]
[Fire Immunity Lvl. 50 | Steel Skin Lvl. 50]
[Luminous Magic Lvl. 50 | Resistance Lvl. 50]
[Strength Lvl. 50 | Speed Lvl. 50]
[MP Consumption Reducted Lvl. 50" | SP Consumption Reducted Lvl. 50]
[Icy Boost Lvl. 50 | Heresy Lvl. 10]
Aim Correction Lvl. 10 | Critical Strike Lvl. 10]
[Lesser Blessing of HP Lvl. 50 | Minor Regeneration Blessing Lvl. 50]
[Spell Cancellation Lvl. 50 | Acrobatic Aerodynamics Lvl. 50]
[Static Lvl. 50 | Genocide Lvl. 5]
[Swim Correction Lvl. 20 | Steel Fangs Lvl. 50]
[Energy Manipulation Lvl. 1 | Chaotic Magic Lvl. 1]
[Titles]
"Genocidal"
"Heiress of Calamity."
[Base Stats] | [General Abilities]
Vitality: 51629 | Critical Attack Chance: 8.08%
Intelligence: 36962 | Magic Estimate: 4.26%
Stamina: 31518 | Aiming Estimate: 9.69%
Attack: 21501 | Defence Breakthrough: 25.44%
Speed: 21208 | Thought Process: 1.01ms
Defence: 20001 | Damage Reduction: 2.26%
Blessing: 0 | Magical Nullification: 3.82%
Impurity: 16 | Chance of "Death": 0%
- - -
Wow, her stats are pretty high!
And it's [Level 1]? Uhm, I think it recently evolved or something. Well, her species is [Higher Vampire], so that must be the explanation for it.
But... Alter Ego? That's a new one...
Ni... shi... mi... ya... Sa... e... ko...
What the hell does that mean? It doesn't make any kind of sense. I'll end up asking her when she wakes up... also about that title [Heiress of Calamity], the reason she's here might be related to that.
She also has a [Chance of Death] of 0%. Which is higher than mine which is -1%. It just means that it's extremely difficult to kill her, not that it's a flat 0% with no chance.
It wouldn't make sense to look for a method to kill her...
But among her skill list she doesn't have what would have made me take action against her... the skill called [Monster], which is only acquired when a monster devours a human.
That means she for some apparent reason didn't devour the group of adventurers who came to kill her.
Oh, I have reached the chest. It was hidden in the trunk of a tree. Vegetation spread over its entire structure, which would normally make it difficult to open.
But the chest is made of rock... no, marble. So it will be able to withstand what I want to do.
I leave... Elise on the ground for a moment, and I set about casting a basic fire spell to burn the roots covering the chest.
Once the roots have turned to ash, it becomes possible for me to open the chest. I easily lift the lid of the chest and see what is inside.
A golden bow... with a string that glows a bluish colour. Next to the bow is a quiver loaded with a multitude of arrows, making it easier for me to obtain them.
I'm putting each thing on the ground in the meantime...
Gold coins and jewellery are there too, but those don't matter that much to me.
My clothes are pretty ragged, and I could end up tearing them in combat if I don't take the right measures. Inside the chest are some grey [Elemental Robes]... ah, these are the ones that can block all attacks coming from the [Air Element].
I open my [Equipment] section and use the [Combine] function on this robe and my current clothes. Then it is that the tunic itself merges with my clothes, covering all the gaps from before and gives it a greyish colour.
I see the girl... she is just as messed up as I am, so... I repeat this procedure with her, so she doesn't look so bad.
I keep taking things out of the chest and find a few [Bezoar]... they won't work on us as we have immunities to poison, but it's still good to keep some just in case.
There's flint, bandages and expired potion containers. All of these things are quite useful.
And the last item that has some kind of use is a buckler shield that she could use to protect herself. Now her [Zero Mana] status is going to take its toll on her for some time.
I don't have any ability to transfer [Mana], so she'll be like this until she regains at least [1 MP].
Good. Maybe it's time for me to start hunting something to feed us. My [Stamina] depletes a lot faster because I tend to run quite a bit, so it wouldn't be very funny if I ran out of any points in this place.
-I'll leave you for a moment, girl. -. I cover Elise with a bunch of leaves and branches that were lying around.
And then I start running, as long as I can find edible prey for both of us.