Noah sat in the hospital corridor, his head lowered as he stared at his bloodied hands.
The smell of medicine, already unpleasant to him, had become jarring when mixed with the scent of blood.
The sound of footsteps made him look up. The doctor hovered over him, tiredness etched on his face.
"The patient's condition is stable. However, due to the severe injury to her cervical bone, she needs to rest for a day before attempting another dungeon..."
Kaia, with a round bandage on her neck, nodded repeatedly as the doctor spoke. Noah remained silent, his fists clenched tightly.
After a while, the doctor left, leaving Noah alone with Kaia. Kaia bent down, patting his shoulder.
"It's not your fault..." she said, prompting him to raise his head, his eyes red with self blame.
"Dungeon Depression. It's a state where a runner's body remains sensitive, and a simple atmospheric shift can cause them to lose control..."
"So you think I have Dungeon Depression?" Noah asked, to which Kaia nodded.
"Absolutely. Otherwise, why else would you attack us?"
Her words struck a chord in his heart. A flash of lightning flickered in his eyes before he forcefully suppressed Thundrith.
'Sizzle'
'Not now, Thundrith.'
"But that dungeon was so easy for me..." his voice trailed off as he noticed the slight change in her expression.
"That didn't mean your body thought so..." her words softened as she adjusted her glasses.
"Yeah. Initially, I was tense, fearing when the monsters would attack. Could I fight them? Could I win?
But after a while, I realized everything was exaggerated.
They weren't as strong as everyone said. Intelligence? That wasn't even one of their attributes. I quickly became bored.
And so, I came to a conclusion." Noah stared intently at Kaia.
"That dungeon wasn't strong at all. So, Miss Kaia, tell me, how can I become depressed when I cleared that dungeon floor with ease?"
It was a lie, but he chose to make it a truth. To find out...
To find out how he had lost control without any reason.
Kaia fell silent. Noah waited a few minutes before speaking again.
"Also, even if I agree that I have Dungeon Depression and lost control due to an atmospheric shift, we were in my private room, undisturbed by the outside world.
What kind of atmospheric shift could occur in my room, especially on the main island, protected by the Zenith Lord himself?"
He watched a bead of sweat trickle down her neck. His gaze hardened as electric arcs appeared around him.
"Enough..."
Both turned to look at Luna, who was being carried on a stretcher by a nurse. The aura around Noah dissipated as he rose from his seat.
"Luna... are you okay?"
She furrowed her brows at his question.
"Can't you see?"
"I'm sorry..." he lowered his head. Whatever the reason, it was because of him that she was hurt.
"I'll take responsibility."
Luna: "..."
"I want to go," she said, looking at Kaia. Noah quickly stepped forward, ready to push her stretcher, but she gestured for him to stop.
"I want to go with Kaia."
"Luna... but..." he was anxious. Noah was certain that everything had happened because of this woman.
Letting Luna go with her alone was dangerous. But Luna was adamant of going with Kaia, he could only agree without a choice.
But he wasn't ready to send her alone, as he also called a taxi to follow behind them.
"Quickly follow that taxi.." his voice was anxious, the taxi driver stepped on accelerator with a knowing smile.
'Children these days..'
Luna peered through the rearview mirror before locking eyes with Kaia.
"Don't waste your mana. You can only see what I allow you to see," Kaia smiled, pulling her hands away from Luna.
Despite being caught red-handed, Luna wasn't anxious; instead, her eyes turned cold, almost inhuman.
"Why did you do that?"
The reason why the... what was his name again?... lost control of himself was because of this woman. Luna wanted to strike her smug face.
"I don't know what you're talking about," Kaia replied with an innocent expression.
Luna bit her lip, abandoning that question as this mad woman never answer and asked.
"How did you do it?"
How had this woman drugged Noah without her noticing?
Was it through the tea?
No. She'd drunk a full glass, while he'd only taken a mouthful. If the problem was the tea, she should've lost control as well.
Then what was it?
Luna began to recall every minor detail, from the boy arriving at her room to their arrival at his room.
A glint flashed in her eyes as she turned to look at Kaia in surprise.
"That smell..."
The aroma of the tea when they entered. That's it. Luna felt her heart beating against her chest bones.
"I never thought you were smarter than that boy," Kaia laughed, enjoying the sight of the passing streets.
"I smelled it too," Luna gritted her teeth. Why didn't she become like him?
"But you drank my tea. He didn't. Humph..." Kaia leaned back, enjoying the sight of the moving streets.
Luna widened her eyes in horror.
"Don't tell me you did that just because he didn't enjoy your tea?"
"Guess.."
Luna's expression was complicated as she saw Kaia's affirmative nods.
Had she made that boy lose control simply because he hadn't enjoyed her tea?
What kind of woman was this? Luna regretted riding with her alone. She glanced through the rear view mirror and breathed in relief after seeing a taxi following them.
Noah stood In the taxi with his upper body out though the sunroof. He waved at Luna, pointing his fingers at his smartwatch.
Luna opened her smartwatch in doubt and saw a message from him.
"This old woman is child kidnapper. I doubt she eat children's too.."
Luna sneaked at the red face of Kaia with a smirk. Atleast that smug look on her face now disappeared, Luna gave a thumbs up to Noah.
Noah obvious for Kaia also reading his message, typed more and more conspiracy theories made by Thundrith.
"Also she liked it raw~ I mean child meat."
Kaia was on average of lashing out of the taxi, and so with a contented smile Luna replied back.
"Don't worry. She only like men.."
"Men?" Noah felt his heart skip a beat.
'Thundrith say something.'
'Sizzle'
'What do you mean by I am not a men? So you want proof?' His face fumed.
'Sizzle'
'Underage? So what? I am still a men, lest underaged.'