'Another forest?' Michael couldn't help but raise his brow.
After going through the portal all of them arrived at a forest, though this one didn't look like it was part of the dungeon.
Yes, you are outside, though there aren't any cities in at least a 10 kilometer radius, I can't feel any further.
Michael nodded and took a look at Meph, he seemed to be rather relaxed for someone who had been trapped in a dungeon for a while.
"So what do you plan on doing now, with you finally being free and all."
"Probably live in this body for a while, it seemed to be quite rich" Meph answered in a nonchalant manner.
"So do you like have all of his memories?"
"Yes, Zane Brennan, 22 years old, spoiled and rich young master" Meph held back his laugh as he recalled some other details.
"I see, I guess his personality that I saw was just the tip of the iceberg, anyway, do you know where a city is? I can't seem to find any near us" Michael explained. He was now pretty comfortable with Meph, he seemed like a nice guy.
"Hold on" Meph said and closed his eyes, then suddenly opened them with a surprised expression.
"So uhh..we are on an island."
'Shit..' Michael couldn't help but cuss his luck, how was he supposed to swim back to another continent?
This might be a good training opportunity.
A shiver went down his spine 'Don't even think about it.'
Why? Are you planning on building a boat and capsizing in the middle of the ocean? You sure are confident.
'No, maybe Meph has a way out of this' Michael thought with a spark of hope in his eyes and asked Meph, though the answer was not what he had hoped.
"Hm? No, I deal in magic surrounding the mind, my physical prowess is not that great."
"Then do you maybe have an idea on how we are supposed to get out of here?"
Meph thought for a second and answered "Nope, we can swim back though, we are not that far away from land, maybe 100 kilometers or so?"
'I am doomed..' Michael couldn't help but let out a sigh and look towards his two out of commission party members.
"What about them? After coming this far I don't really want to leave them here."
Meph tilted his head slightly "Why? I thought you said that you didn't know them?"
"I don't, but it would be a shame for them to die as well, more blame would fall onto me if you and I were the only ones to return" Michael explained.
"I see, well I already dispelled the illusion on that buff guy back in the dungeon, though I guess his mind is too scarred as he is not regaining control of his body" Meph said, then pointed towards Joanna.
"As for the girl, she is in a comatose like state, from what I can see of Zane's memories she died, but was brought back to life miraculously." He then glanced at Michael and flashed a small smile, proceeding to walk in one direction.
"You have your secrets, I have mine, unless you just really like to talk to yourself" Meph added with a chuckle.
All the while Michael remained silent and followed Meph, his two teammates on his shoulders.
After about 2 hours of constant walking, they could finally see the trees disappearing, and replacing them was a vast ocean, expanding everywhere the eyes could see.
"We are here" Meph said, looking straight at the ocean.
The land and water connected seamlessly, it looked quite magical.
Michael finally dropped his teammates onto the ground, he was no longer sure what to do, he didn't want to abandon them, but if he chose to take them with him, he could quite literally drown.
Meph looked at Michael and sighed, he then raised his hand, expending a small wave of mana and enveloping both Eric and Joanna.
All of a sudden they started moving, albeit a tad bit roughly.
"I'll take them with us, though if they drown along the way it's not my fault" Meph expressed and moved them closer to the ocean.
"Thank you."
So you resulted to swimming, I pray you don't drown, though the stat gain from this is going to be massive.
Michael clenched his fists tightly, the last time he trained, he ran 100 laps, which is roughly 40 kilometers, though now he had to do double that, even a tad bit more than double.
Not only is he going to get exhausted faster, but due to the waves he might even drown.
'Fuck this' Michael took a step into the water, it was cold, despite it being summertime.
Meph chuckled "Alright follow along now, don't worry if you start drowning I will save you, I don't want my benefactor dying so soon."
"Sure.."
-----
Back in the dungeon.
-Crack
The air suddenly shattered, however instead of a portal appearing, a tall man walked out of the cracks.
He had a mask on his face, however his long golden hair could not be hidden.
The man took a step and immediately disappeared, appearing right in front of the now empty throne.
His expression was unknown, however a slight trembling of his hands could be seen.
He then reached into his pocket and pulled out a tiny white cube, placing it on the empty throne.
"Rebecca, Rebecca. You skimped out on a few details didn't you?" He spoke to the white cube.
"A simple healer you said? What a joke. Though If I can get him on our side, our plan would fast forward a few decades"
The man turned around and walked forward, his steps not making any sound, however he suddenly stopped and pulled out a tiny note and a pen.
He wrote something down and walked back to the throne, placing the note on top of the white cube.
The note sunk into the white cube as if the cube was made out of water.
"I am extending your punishment Rebecca, I have to handle some business now, goodbye."
Saying those words he took a step and disappeared, appearing back at the place where the crack in the air remained and walked through it, the crack slowly closing behind him.
The only thing left in this dungeon was the white cube, laying on the throne.
All alone.
-----
-Gurgle
"Oh whoops" Meph quickly turned around and pulled Michael above the water.
"Hey we are almost there, just a few kilometers to go, hey can you hear me" Meph smacked Michael on the head.
"Wai-cough are you trying to fucking kill me!" Michael shouted at Meph, though he received no reaction, as if this wasn't the first time that this had happened.
Why don't you keep yourself above water next time, this is your 15th time nearly drowning.
'Whose smart idea was it to swim this far again? Oh wait, it was yours!' Michael exclaimed at the system's comment, trying to stay afloat.
Well, Meph had the same idea didn't he? Besides, the amount of stats you got is pretty impressive.
'Do you think I care about that? I will have you know that if I escaped the dungeon with the original plan, I would have starved to death, or better yet, drowned to death.'
Don't let what ifs dictate your path going forward, persevere and live another day.
'You and your philosophical bullshit, did you look deeper into my memories?' Michael asked and tried following after Meph, but ended up getting water all the way up his nose.
You had an interesting childhood, I mean who else would read a whole book on philosophy and talk about it in their school's comedy club?
'H-hey! Don't look that far back, focus on my military days, I was quite impressive back then!' Michael exclaimed, his ears slightly turning red.
Oh yeah? What about that time you slipped and fell in front of your whole squad? And more than once might I add.
The system continued annoying Michael with his worst moments during the time he served in the military.
Michael joined the military as soon as he finished high school and served until he was 27.
The reason he was discharged was due to his mother dying, he was not able to visit her because he was not in the country.
Due to the fear that it might happen again, this time with his father, he quit and became a mercenary under one of his commanding officer's contacts.
The man never introduced himself, however, every time Michael did not perform up to par, he received a punishment.
Those punishments ranged anywhere from pay cuts, to him being beat up.
The only reason Michael did not quit was because the pay was great, he was able to retire his father after only 2 years of working as a mercenary.
However the 'incident' happened in his 3rd year of working as a mercenary, and ever since then, he became an alcoholic and someone who used all kinds of drugs.
He was not happy with himself, but taking all of those substances made his pain go away.
That was until he died, at the fine age of 30.
Oh and that time when yo-
'Shut up my head is about to explode' Michael grumbled while swimming.
Though as he looked forward, he was finally able to see something, it was some sort of building in the distance.
Meph looked at him and said "We finally made it, speed up or something, this body's got to eat"
The waves were no longer as strong as before, swimming became easier for Michael, even if he was still fatigued.
"Right.."
After another 20 minutes of swimming they finally arrived, in front of them was a massive city, with tall buildings reaching into the sky.
They swam up to a ladder and Meph made Eric and Joanna go first, their bodies did not look too great, but because of Michael's healing and Meph's ability to control them, they were still alive.
They all climbed up the ladder and saw the bustling city in front of them.
Unlike the city Michael lived in previously, this one looked more advanced, all types of cars were driving around, some really fancy looking, others even hovering above the ground.
Though in the small moment Michael and Meph took to enjoy the sights, police sirens sounded, seemingly heading towards them.
Meph turned to look at Michael with a confident smile on his face "Don't worry, this body is somewhat of a big shot"
"Right..then you can vouch for my identity, I don't have an ID on me" Michael replied whilst squeezing the water out of his clothes.
Meph slightly flinched and looked around inside of his pockets "ID? R-right ID.." then turned to Michael, sporting a silly grin "It seems like I lost it."
"..." Michael was speechless.
The police finally arrived and they cautiously stepped out of their cars, walking towards Meph and Michael, as well as the 2 others lying on the ground behind them.
One of the policemen pulled out a pair of cuffs and held them to the side.
"What were you doing with those people and the kid?" He asked, his gaze on Meph.
Those words seemed to shock Meph a little, though he quickly recovered his composure, his expression beaming with confidence "Do not worry, I did not commit any nefarious crimes today, they are my friends."
Though the policeman did not seem convinced and walked towards Meph "No crimes committed today? You are under arrest until we can identify you."
He placed the cuffs on Meph's hands and turned towards Michael with a kind smile "Are you okay kid? Come with us for now, we will get you back home."
Michael did not refuse and walked with the man, as he did, he glanced at Meph and saw his sour expression.
The policeman led Michael into the police car and sat him down in the back.
A few minutes later sirens were heard once again, this time however they were the paramedics. There were 2 emergency vehicles and Michael saw 2 people step out of them, both wearing a white coat with a cross on its back.
'The healers?' Michael thought.
They walked up to Eric and Joanna, before examining them and picking them up, taking them back to the emergency vehicles.
This is another opportunity for you to gain EXP, make sure to tell the police you are a healer, that way they might send you to the hospital.
'Won't I get sent back to the orphanage instead though?' Michael asked the system.
Yeah? Who said there isn't an orphanage in this city as well? They might just take you there instead.
Michael couldn't help but agree, it was highly likely that's going to be the case 'I guess this is going to take a while..'