When we were done dealing with the matter of the skill book, Yuvan relaxed and spoke, "Since you've shown this much," she said, "Do you want to tell me what happened inside the dungeon? From what I heard, you saved some girl's life and ended up inside the boss's room somehow."
"It's just like you heard," I said as I stood up to leave, "I saved some girl's life and ended up in the boss room, somehow." Yuvan scoffed at my cheeky response and I grinned at her, "I'll be going into another dungeon tomorrow, so I hope I won't have any problems."
"Yeah," Yuvan waved me away nonchalantly, "You're clean. Get your money from the receptionist outside, you swindler."
I left the office, and after telling the receptionist what Yuvan said, I got my money. I collected the key to the room and paid the fee before going up to rest. I knew that I haven't gotten my money from the group yet, but I could do that tomorrow. I wanted to rest for tomorrow.
I got to my room and went to have my bath as usual. As I came out, I look at my reflection in the mirror again and I was glad o see that my cheeks were no longer as sunken as yesterday. The dark circles around my eyes were also disappearing and some color had returned to my skin. It seems that all I needed was good food and some sleep. I should be back to full health in about two days.
As I walked back into the room, I wondered how those children from the mines were doing. I know that Sylvia was one of the best at taking care of kids, but I was still a little curious about how she was going to place them in different homes. There was a knock on the door and I went to take the food. But when I opened the door, I was surprised when someone crashed into me and hugged me tightly.
I was a moment away from activating [Pyroclasm] to burn the person alive because I thought I was getting attacked, but then I looked down and I saw that it was only Clara.
"You're alive," she sobbed into my chest, "You're really alive. I thought you… I thought you died. I was so scared."
I gently hugged her back and allowed her to calm down before peeling her off me. I felt a little weird hugging a child since I was much older than her. Clara wiped her eyes with her sleeves before bowing her head to me, "I'm really sorry for what happened in the dungeon. I was shortsighted and I made a mistake that almost killed you."
Her apology was sincere and I really didn't expect it. I thought she would be too childish to come and apologize properly, "It's fine," I said, "I didn't die, so you don't need to feel guilty anymore. I was the one that chose to save you."
"Y-Yeah, and thanks for saving me too," Clara looked up with a small blush on her face. She stood straight before she folded her hands and looked away, "I… really don't know how to repay you for that."
"You don't have to worry –" I was about to tell her to forget about it, but Clara cut me off loudly.
"No! I have to. It wasn't nothing!" she looked very serious and I knew that she would not back down unless I asked for something, "You saved my life, so please, let me do something in return."
If I was still my younger self, then this would have been the greatest moment of my life. A beautiful girl is offering to do anything you ask her to do as an apology for saving her life. I would have asked for something so perverted that she would be ashamed to even look me in the eye. But I wasn't a child anymore and the only thing on my mind now was getting stronger to get revenge. I didn't have any need for relationships, or friends.
"Just get me some food or something," I said nonchalantly as I scratched the back of my head and sighed, "I'm a little tired, so can you leave?"
"Uhm… yeah, alright," Clara was disappointed by the dismissal as I guided her toward the door. Once I opened it, I saw that receptionist holding my tray of food and I took it and thanked her, "I'll see you tomorrow," Clara said with a small smile and I hummed in response before using my leg to close the door behind me.
The next morning, I put on my clothes and the boots and gauntlets and I headed out of the room. My armor had some holes in it so I would need to get some new ones before going into another dungeon. It was for the best because I already planned to get stronger armor for when I hunt alone. When I got downstairs, I saw that the entire group from yesterday was waiting there. They were talking amongst themselves and they stopped once they saw me. I walked up to Johnny.
"Did you sell the crystals yet?" I asked and he nodded and handed me a bag.
"There are two hundred and fifty bronze coins there," Johnny said and I was surprised by how much they gave me. This is far more than what I was supposed to get.
"The group decided that you would take fifty percent and we will share the rest among ourselves," Johnny smiled jovially, "Thanks for helping us out yesterday. We followed that river that you suggested to get back home and it cut our travel time by a lot. Mark wouldn't have made it if not for you."
"Yeah, no problem." I put the bag away and started to move towards the receptionist's desk, but Johnny put his hand on my shoulder to stop me and I immediately shrugged it off, "Stop touching me." I said in annoyance, and this time, I made sure he understood that I wasn't playing around.
"Sorry, I was just wondering if you'd want to come out with us again today," Johnny said, "We're going to another F rank dungeon and it will be nice to have an E ranker with us."
"I'm hunting alone today. You guys will just hold me back."
I went to the receptionist and asked for a map for a new dungeon [Infernal Abyss]. She didn't need to give me a permit anymore since I was already an E ranker. She just handed me the map and I turned to head out, but once I turned, I saw Clara standing there with a box in her hands.
"Uh… hi," she said, "U-Uhm…" Clara was hesitant to talk, but her sister – Laura – was standing behind her and she pushed Clara and whispered 'Just give it to him'. "Oh, shut up!" Clara shouted back before she looked at me with a blush on her face and stretched out her hand, "I-I made this for you. Take it."
This is not what I meant when I told her to get me food. Clara was blushing and looking away from me and it didn't take a genius to realize that she had a regular crush. On me. Fuck.
[The Heart of Darkness is laughing at your misfortune]
"Thanks," I said simply as I took it and walked out of the guild hall. I was going to refuse it at first, but I didn't need to start making little girls cry for no reason. I'll just ignore her advances from now on.
I first went to the smithy where I got my last armor and I bought some new armor. This time, I got E-rank armor that cost me one hundred and fifty coins. I had enough money from yesterday, so I didn't worry about the cost and I just bought the best one there.
I got to the dungeon [Infernal Abyss] and I showed my badge to the two guards standing at the entrance before they allowed me in. Once I got in, the temperature around me immediately rose to an intense level. This was a [Fire] type dungeon, and I already expected the temperature to be high, so I wasn't surprised by it.
Many insect-like creatures with large fiery wings called [Fire Flies] started to fly towards me once I crossed the border. I didn't want to use my sword today and I just wanted to test out the limits of my magic power. So I started off with casting [Pyroclasm] and twenty balls of black fire appeared around me. They flew towards the [Fire Flies] and engulfed them in black flames before burning them. The [Fire Flies] were only F rank beasts and my [Pyroclasm] easily surpassed the temperatures they were used to.
[The Heart of Darkness wishes to Devour the [Fire Flies]]
"Just do whatever you want," I said and I felt the heart preen in joy before it began to siphon magic power from the corpses.
[Magic Power +15]
My magic power suddenly filled back up and surpassed the previous amount and so I didn't waste any time as I activated the [Pyroclasm] skill again.