Benjamin didn't pass out, and neither did he suddenly lose the function of his eyes. The world of the dungeon swallowed him up and spat him back out at Eluzan's feet. He had cleared the dungeon.
Benjamin looked around in a daze. Leaves, grass, and tiny branches covered the soft ground. The bright evening sun turned the trees into lengthy shadows, barely visible under the leafy crowns.
There was not a hint of snow to be seen. The thick furry armor was already turning up Benjamin's core temperature.
"Wha…?"
Just a second ago, he had seen the village with the Chief, Toda, Noda, Boda, the villagers be ripped out of the ground by monstrous beasts. But now, he was back in the forest where he ended up after the Pantheon sent him and his classmates to Arthea.
"Nina!" Benjamin's eyes widened as he realized that he had left Nina behind. She was all alone.
He scrambled around on the ground as he looked for the stone the size of a melon with the symbol on it. He barely felt the contents in his hand spill out over the ground in his scramble.
"Where is it?!" He turned to Eluzan and demanded an answer when he couldn't find the stone. He had to get back in there and help her.
"..." Eluzan sat and silently looked at the fur-clad and desperate Benjamin. He hadn't moved more than his gaze ever since Benjamin returned.
Seeing Eluzan remain silent, Benjamin cursed and continued searching. It wasn't like the stone could have grown legs and wandered off. It was probably hiding in the shadow of a tree or something.
"Avatar."
"..." Benjamin pettily ignored Eluzan.
"Avatar of mine." Eluzan insisted.
"What?!" Benjamin shouted, turning away from the pit he had started digging where the stone was supposed to be.
"The dungeon has closed."
"And what's that supposed to mean? Don't give me any fucking nonsense this time!"
Eluzan sighed under his breath before explaining,
"There are a multitude of different dungeons in this world of mine. Some, you can't leave until you clear a specific condition. Others you can leave at will or in specific locations. Some have a set condition. Other dungeons change with the passing of time. There are dungeons you can enter repeatedly, and there are dungeons you can only enter once. Either, you can only enter them once because they only allow one visit per person, or because they close after one person has entered." Eluzan got off his haunches and walked over to one of the things Benjamin dropped.
"The dungeon you just entered closed as soon as you cleared it. That usually means its purpose was to tell a story." Eluzan stopped and looked at an icy blue stone with the symbol of a snowflake on it on the ground.
"This particular story hasn't ended yet, it seems." Eluzan pricked a piece of parchment next to the stone with his claw and sent it flying into Benjamin's face.
Confused, Benjamin grabbed and unfurled the parchment piece.
'Shard of Winter I End:'
'After losing all that's close to her, a young girl's heart grows colder than ice. Her journey leads north.'
Benjamin's grip on the parchment tightened as he read the tiny snippet of text multiple times. That was Nina. He didn't know what the fuck was going on, but Nina was alive. Eluzan pressed the parchment against his chest.
He didn't know what he would have done if Nina would have died. He had only known her for a few days, but she had looked after him in her own way. In those few short days, she had almost become like a little sister.
Unfortunately, it hadn't been all good news.
Nina had survived, but she had lost everything close to her. That meant the Chief, Toda, and the others were all dead. The village that had saved Benjamin from the winter he was woefully unprepared for was gone. People who had shown him more kindness than he had ever seen on Earth were gone. Just like that.
Benjamin closed his eyes and faced the sky in silence.
He had thought his heart had shriveled up after years of bullying. But it had only taken some unconditional kindness and care from some strangers in another world to restore his faith in people.
With their passing, his heart was now freezing over again.
"Avatar of mine, it seems you had an interesting few hours. I don't know what you've been through, but we should get going."
"What did you say?" Benjamin slowly opened his eyes and turned to Eluzan, who had already started walking.
"It's time to move. As you are now, spending the night in the forest isn't optimal. Poor timing on the clear."
"No. Before that."
"I don't know what you've been through?" Eluzan wasn't really in the mood to entertain this rude avatar of his, but it was the first he had in ages. He could grant Benjamin some grace.
"No." Benjamin shook his head. "Before that."
"It seems you've been through an interesting few hours?"
"That! What do you mean by hours?" Benjamin questioned.
"Hmm? Is there an error in the translation? It should translate to the closest unit of measurement you are familiar with. I didn't think the Pantheon could make mistakes."
"Never mind that. How long has it been since I entered the dungeon? When did I enter, and when did I clear it?"
Eluzan looked at the surprisingly frantic Benjamin for a second before slowly realizing what was going on. There wasn't an error in translation.
"You entered earlier today when the sun was closer to the peak of its journey. It was after it had passed the peak but not much. And you cleared it just now when there's an hour or two before it goes down behind the horizon." Even if there wasn't an error in the translation, Eluzan made sure to word it in a way that an error wouldn't affect the meaning of his words.
"I was in there," Benjamin pointed at where the stone should have been, "for days!" He half-shouted.
Eluzan nodded.
"Sometimes, dungeons work on a different time axis than Arthea." Elzuan shrugged like it was no big deal.
"...!" Benjamin couldn't say anything to that. To him, it was amazing.
More than gods, the passing of time was actually tangible even on Earth. Well, not quite tangible, but it was understandable and immovable like a rushing river. Something like two different times or time passing differently in two different places with the same gravity was inconceivable.
But here on Arthea, it was just another Thursday. Or whatever calendar system they used.
Benjamin was once again forced to face the fact and reality of his transmigration to another world—a fantasy one.